wired/wireless bridge: a more surefire Linux wireless solution?

This question is not really Linux-specific, and is maybe more
hardware-oriented than OS-oriented. But being a Linux user, I'd like to
know if/how it might apply to me. It concerns a comment I read regarding
an article on wireless networking with Linux, and it's really something I
had earlier wondered about, though in less specific terms. So, to go on
with my query.

It seems widely accepted that Linux has spotty support for wireless
networking--at least I read articles and comments to that effect with some
regularity. I wondered, when I first confronted these sorts of problems:
"why couldn't a wireless receiver-type-thing just be hooked up to a Linux
machine's wired NIC to connect said machine to a wireless network?" I
didn't really appreciate the technical aspects involved when I first
thought of this, but now that I've read someone's suggestion about using a
bridge to do just this sort of thing, I might understand better. The
person responding to the article I was reading was basically saying
something like: "why bother with the software problems (lack of drivers
and documentation on chipsets to write them) associated with hooking to a
wireless network in Linux? Just get a wireless bridge and hook it to your
wired NIC and get on the wireless network that way."

So, let me just ask: is this really some sort of solution to the wireless
support problem under Linux? People objected to that poster's suggestion
on the basis that it was too bulky (extra pieces of hardware like the
bridge and its power adaptor). Maybe it's a bit more expensive, too. But
if this really would work--i.e., allow you to connect to a wireless
network through your existing wired NIC--it could be a solution for at
least some situations. Possible cons would be that a lousy old 10/100
wired NIC can't match the throughput of the latest 801.11g wireless NIC's
(to which I say; big whoop! 100mbps suits my all my needs and more).
Certainly an enterprising hardware manufacturer could address the
bulkiness problem: I have an external HD, for example, that draws 6 volt
power from the ps2 port. Of course the possibility always exists--and is
in fact quite likely--that there's already some device that does this,
i.e., sort of augments your existing wired NIC with wirless capability
and that I simply haven't run across it yet.

Feedback will be appreciated. I've probably overlooked or poorly
understand many of the technical details.

James
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Re: wired/wireless bridge: a more surefire Linux wireless solution?

James Miller wrote:

>This question is not really Linux-specific, and is maybe more
>hardware-oriented than OS-oriented. But being a Linux user, I'd like to
>know if/how it might apply to me. It concerns a comment I read regarding
>an article on wireless networking with Linux, and it's really something I
>had earlier wondered about, though in less specific terms. So, to go on
>with my query.
>
>It seems widely accepted that Linux has spotty support for wireless
>networking--at least I read articles and comments to that effect with some
>regularity. I wondered, when I first confronted these sorts of problems:
>"why couldn't a wireless receiver-type-thing just be hooked up to a Linux
>machine's wired NIC to connect said machine to a wireless network?" I
>didn't really appreciate the technical aspects involved when I first
>thought of this, but now that I've read someone's suggestion about using a
>bridge to do just this sort of thing, I might understand better. The
>person responding to the article I was reading was basically saying
>something like: "why bother with the software problems (lack of drivers
>and documentation on chipsets to write them) associated with hooking to a
>wireless network in Linux? Just get a wireless bridge and hook it to your
>wired NIC and get on the wireless network that way."
>
>So, let me just ask: is this really some sort of solution to the wireless
>support problem under Linux? People objected to that poster's suggestion
>on the basis that it was too bulky (extra pieces of hardware like the
>bridge and its power adaptor). Maybe it's a bit more expensive, too. But
>if this really would work--i.e., allow you to connect to a wireless
>network through your existing wired NIC--it could be a solution for at
>least some situations. Possible cons would be that a lousy old 10/100
>wired NIC can't match the throughput of the latest 801.11g wireless NIC's
>(to which I say; big whoop! 100mbps suits my all my needs and more).
>Certainly an enterprising hardware manufacturer could address the
>bulkiness problem: I have an external HD, for example, that draws 6 volt
>power from the ps2 port. Of course the possibility always exists--and is
>in fact quite likely--that there's already some device that does this,
>i.e., sort of augments your existing wired NIC with wirless capability
>and that I simply haven't run across it yet.
>
>Feedback will be appreciated. I've probably overlooked or poorly
>understand many of the technical details.
>
>James
>-
>To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-newbie" in
>the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>Please read the FAQ at http://www.linux-learn.org/faqs
>
>
>
Gang,
I use one in my room at my camp where I stay while I work. They wired
the camp with Cisco wireless AP's. I use a Linksys ethernet to wireless
bridge and it works fine. I had a Dlink but it gave me lots of
problems. If you have more questions just ask.
Dave
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Re: wired/wireless bridge: a more surefire Linux wireless solution?

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005, dave wrote:

> I use one in my room at my camp where I stay while I work. They wired
> the camp with Cisco wireless AP's. I use a Linksys ethernet to wireless
> bridge and it works fine. I had a Dlink but it gave me lots of
> problems. If you have more questions just ask.

Thanks for your input, Dave. So it does work as the poster whose comments
I read suggested. I suppose one must be particular about the bridge one
buys: looks like Linksys should be chosen over Dlink, at the least. Anyone
else tried this, and can can you report on hardware?

After I finished my initial post, I realized I had forgotten to mention
those wireless print server adaptors and to ask whether these might have
capabilities to allow using a wired NIC as wireless. I guess they be
geared toward listening on a certain port, so that could interfere. But
they must be capable of broadcasting to dhcp servers for an adress, and be
capable of transferring data into and out of the printer's ethernet
port--for those printer's that have one.

James
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Re: wired/wireless bridge: a more surefire Linux wireless solution?

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005, James Miller wrote:

> So, let me just ask: is this really some sort of solution to the wireless
> support problem under Linux? People objected to that poster's suggestion
> on the basis that it was too bulky (extra pieces of hardware like the
> bridge and its power adaptor). Maybe it's a bit more expensive, too.

Looking around at prices, wired/wireless bridges do seem a bit more
expensive than traditional wireless cards. I see prices starting at around
$35 for these, while wireless NIC's can be had on sale for as low as $10
(after rebates!). But what good is an unsupported $10 wirless NIC going to
be, anyway? I note in advertisements that these bridges are expressly
described as allowing computers to connect to wireless LANs (along with
set-top boxes, gaming consoles etc etc), and many even claim Linux
support. This looks to me like a good alternative to suggest to Linux
newbies interested in using wireless networks--i.e., for those who haven't
bought an already-wireless-enabled machine and are simply trying to get
the built-in wireless hardware to work under Linux.

James
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Re: wired/wireless bridge: a more surefire Linux wireless solution?

At 08:21 AM 2/3/2005 -0600, James Miller wrote:

>On Wed, 2 Feb 2005, James Miller wrote:
>
> > So, let me just ask: is this really some sort of solution to the wireless
> > support problem under Linux? People objected to that poster's suggestion
> > on the basis that it was too bulky (extra pieces of hardware like the
> > bridge and its power adaptor). Maybe it's a bit more expensive, too.
>
>Looking around at prices, wired/wireless bridges do seem a bit more
>expensive than traditional wireless cards. I see prices starting at around
>$35 for these, while wireless NIC's can be had on sale for as low as $10
>(after rebates!). But what good is an unsupported $10 wirless NIC going to
>be, anyway? I note in advertisements that these bridges are expressly
>described as allowing computers to connect to wireless LANs (along with
>set-top boxes, gaming consoles etc etc), and many even claim Linux
>support. This looks to me like a good alternative to suggest to Linux
>newbies interested in using wireless networks--i.e., for those who haven't
>bought an already-wireless-enabled machine and are simply trying to get
>the built-in wireless hardware to work under Linux.


James -- You are right that a $35 bridge that works is a better buy than a
$10 card that does not work. And I've even seen these bridges as low as $20
(after rebates) from time to time (this due to my proximity to Fry's
Electronics; I never see deals that good online.

One thing people haven't mentioned here, though, is the NDIS-wrapper
approach. This uses some wrapper code to let the kernel operate a WLAN card
using its Windows driver software. I forget the URL, but if you Google,
"NDIS Linux", you'll probably find it. And my son, who (unlike me) has a
WLAN running at his home, says his recent experience is that the technique
works well, except for dual-CPU systems, where (I think this is what he
said) it can lead to a race condition.




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