PCMCIA and USB Wifi Support in Kubuntu 12.04?

[SamuelHolmes82]

Hi everyone,

I found my old laptop the other day, an IBM Thinkpad T30. It isn't a bad computer, yes the technology is dated but it runs Kubuntu just fine :-)

The only downside is that it doesn't have a built in wireless adaptor. I am looking at several options as follows:

1. Buy a PCMCIA wireless card
2. Buy a PCMCIA USB 2.0 card and a mini USB Wireless dongle
3. Just use a mini dongle plugged into one of the USB 1.1 ports (less preferable)

My question is, what support (if any) is there for PCMCIA devices in Kubuntu 12.04 and later? Is it going to be a real challenge getting everything working? If I do use a mini dongle are these devices readily supported?

[TWPonKubuntu]

I have both and internal wifi adapter (Broadcom b43 driver) and a usb dongle (Realtek r8188eu driver).
Neither one has native support in linux...

The internal sometimes is less sensitive, probably due to the location of the antenna within the laptop case (DELL Latitude D820).

The dongle is on the end of a usb extender cable, rubber banded to a small wooden wand, which puts it about a foot away from the case.
It is sometimes the more receptive adapter, BUT NOT ALWAYS!
I switch between them depending on which is working better at any particular site.

[SamuelHolmes82]

I have both and internal wifi adapter (Broadcom b43 driver) and a usb dongle (Realtek r8188eu driver).
Neither one has native support in linux...
.

So was it easy enough to get them working in Linux? Did you have to find drivers or something?

[TWPonKubuntu]

There is a lot of Broadcom data on the net. The one needed depends on the particular chipset used on our wifi adapter.

The Realtek is a similar problem. There are sites with the drivers or code (which needs to be compiled on our system).

First, find the chipset used on your system. Find the specs for your laptop model (IBM Thinkpad T30) and note the chipset used.
Yours may not have an internal wifi adapter...
This is what Lenovo says about that model:

10/100 Ethernet installed on the system board
Selected models will have Intel Wireless and modem Mini PCI combo cards
Selected models will have CISCO Mini PCI card
Selected models will have Bluetooth communication daughter card

If you want to use an external (usb or pcmia) adapter, first check that there are linux drivers available for it, preferably before you buy...
This will save you a lot of time and hassle.

[jlittle]

I bought a cheap ($NZ20, about $US16) store brand USB wireless N dongle recently. It has a Realtek RTL8188CUS. It "just worked" booting from a Lubuntu 13.10 CD, no driver installing required, and works really well. (In Win XP a slightly tricky install from a supplied CD was needed.)
If you only have USB 1, maybe such a dongle wouldn't work so well; getting a card that gives USB 2 ports might be a more flexible use of money.

Regards, John Little

[TWPonKubuntu]

@jlittle You are correct, usb 2 or 3 is needed for decent speed, which is more important than using the usb extender cable, although I'd still recommend it for better signal.

@SamuelHolmes82: For the Realtek, depending on the model, I used these resources:

https://code.google.com/p/realtek-81...9-ubuntu-1304/

https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu

For Broadcom, it was more complex. There is a lot of info out there, this link is what told me the most, although dated (version 12.04) it does work on my system:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wi...Cbcm43xx%29%29