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Hardware - Support => Network => Topic started by: XP Refugee on February 19, 2014, 12:29:03 PM

Title: Ububtu WiFi card for OLD machine
Post by: XP Refugee on February 19, 2014, 12:29:03 PM
Advice if you can please........................... I have an old Dell Inspiron 1000 comp, Celeron (R) CPU 2.20GHz, 448MB Ram, Mobile Intel(R), that I want to install Linux Lite on.The problem being that the Inspiron range does not have WiFi. I have been looking in Ebay & Amazon, Googling 'Ubuntu WiFi card' but I just get lost in all the tech stuff. I have managed to ascertain a 'Massive' (joke)chunk of info in that the card I require is an '802. 11b/g' model.

I was wondering if the Asus Usb-N10 USB Wireless Adapter might do the job? It seems to me to have the correct requirements but it is advertised by PC World as only being compatible with Ubuntu 9.04 (?).

Thanks for any advice you can give. 8)
Title: Re: Ububtu WiFi card for OLD machine
Post by: shaggytwodope on February 19, 2014, 01:02:47 PM
According to the site (http://www.asus.com/Networking/USBN10/), they claim it works under linux. Now if its out of the box hard to tell. It may require some effort to install the proper driver. But most likely wont be so bad ^_^
Title: Re: Ububtu WiFi card for OLD machine
Post by: N4RPS on February 20, 2014, 04:06:37 AM
Hello!

Worst case scenario: It'll have a Broadcom BCM43xx chip on that card like my HP netbook and laptop do, meaning you MIGHT need bcmwl-kernel-source (or, for REALLY old machines, firmware-b43-installer or firmware b43-legacy-installer) from the repository. It's SUPPOSED to be non-free, but some distros go ahead and include these anyway.

The problem is, unless it's on the LiveCD (probably not, for the aforementioned reason), you'd need to hook up to a wired connection (or a wireless stick/card that IS detected by the kernel; Atheros and Intel come to mind), to go out and get it. Open a terminal, then enter the following line:

Code: [Select]
sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
For the REALLY OLD Broadcom adapters, this link helps:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2110447

Every other wireless dongle I've ever used was auto-detected - even my (!) Windows Mobile smartphone...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob
Title: Re: Ububtu WiFi card for OLD machine
Post by: XP Refugee on February 20, 2014, 08:55:44 PM
Hello Rob,

Thanks for your advice. To help me I've gone out and bought a Linux for Dummies manual 'cos that's about my level at the moment I think :'( . I am hoping, like your experience, that it will be auto-detected.

Hello Shaggytwodope,

Thanks for your advice. I've been checking the manual with the L/D manual so with a bit of luck I should be able to get there. Just got to go out and buy the card now, lol.
Title: Re: Ububtu WiFi card for OLD machine
Post by: Jim1938 on March 25, 2014, 03:04:33 PM
I just bought a d-link card for my DIY PC.
It works very well and was cheap.
If you have the right kind of spare slot on your motherboard, then maybe this is your solution.
If you need speed, then a card is best.
But if speed is not important, then an USB adapter is easier to install.
Title: Re: Ububtu WiFi card for OLD machine
Post by: busprof on March 25, 2014, 09:34:42 PM
It looks as though the ASUS wireless USB adapter you mentioned uses the Realtek RTL8188SU chipset.  The drivers *should* be in the mainline kernels, so it *should* work without any fiddling on your part required.  The driver is the r8192s_usb driver BTW, assuming my info is correct.