My Wi-Fi on Linux - A New Hope
Wednesday, 16. July 2008, 06:13:37
People who read my blog probably remember my previous attempts at setting up my own home wireless network, transforming my desktop computer into a wireless access point. My most recent try was using a Ralink RT2561 PCI card, with rt61pci driver from rt2x00 driver family. If you remember, that card was supposed to be Linux-compatible and so on, but the truth wasn't exactly what we expected.
The problem with that card was that the drivers did not support either ad-hoc or master modes, making it completely useless for my needs.
However... Things change... Drivers (hopefully) get improved...
A few minutes ago I found a forum post from the beginning of the year that says "Adhoc and master mode are scheduled for 2.6.26". Then I found that experimental drivers are available at Linux Wireless site. These under-development drivers are backported to kernel versions 2.6.21 and newer.
Well... If they are scheduled for 2.6.26, and I'm already using 2.6.25.x, it shouldn't take too long, right? What is the latest available stable kernel? Woohoo! 2.6.26 was released a few days ago!
Linux Wireless homepage/news page states that "Access point mode has received a lot of attention in the stack and drivers, but is not ready yet.". This statement is also supported by the todo-list: "AP support is still unfinished.". In addition, the 2.6.26 changelog says this:
So, it seems that AP and ad-hoc modes are still very experimental, but they might work. Even though they might not be production-ready, this means they are being actively developed, and sooner or later they will be ready. Hopefully sooner.
All of this are really good news. There is a new hope that my home wi-fi network will stop being just blog posts and start being a real working network. And, what's more, without buying another card!
It appears to be even more feasible when we start seeing forum posts of people talking about their success [1] [2].
The problem with that card was that the drivers did not support either ad-hoc or master modes, making it completely useless for my needs.
However... Things change... Drivers (hopefully) get improved...
A few minutes ago I found a forum post from the beginning of the year that says "Adhoc and master mode are scheduled for 2.6.26". Then I found that experimental drivers are available at Linux Wireless site. These under-development drivers are backported to kernel versions 2.6.21 and newer.
Well... If they are scheduled for 2.6.26, and I'm already using 2.6.25.x, it shouldn't take too long, right? What is the latest available stable kernel? Woohoo! 2.6.26 was released a few days ago!
Linux Wireless homepage/news page states that "Access point mode has received a lot of attention in the stack and drivers, but is not ready yet.". This statement is also supported by the todo-list: "AP support is still unfinished.". In addition, the 2.6.26 changelog says this:
commit adfdbb79c06154cd3cc7b5983106ace324aa3b02
Author: Ivo van Doorn <ivdoorn@gmail.com>
Date: Sun Feb 3 15:48:03 2008 +0100
rt2x00: Enable master and adhoc mode again
This will enable the creation of master mode and adhoc
interfaces again. This does not mean the issues surrounding
beaconing have been resolved, but this will make testing
easier and perhaps we can discover which cards are actually
working and which ones not.
So, it seems that AP and ad-hoc modes are still very experimental, but they might work. Even though they might not be production-ready, this means they are being actively developed, and sooner or later they will be ready. Hopefully sooner.
All of this are really good news. There is a new hope that my home wi-fi network will stop being just blog posts and start being a real working network. And, what's more, without buying another card!
It appears to be even more feasible when we start seeing forum posts of people talking about their success [1] [2].
WIDGETIZE