Intel Pro Wireless cards

[Rodd Clarkson]

On Mon, 2005-02-28 at 20:12 -0600, Michael Favia wrote:
>Eric Warnke wrote:
>
>> After reviewing the archives of the various lists I have found no 
>> discussion on the topic of wireless driver inclusion in FC.
>
>Along these same lines is the Ralink 2500/2400 chip sets. They power a 
>number of useful 802.11 b/g devices (most notably linksys PCI revision 4 
>here in the US which is a large number of devices sold). They gpl'd 
>their source code back in December IIRC. As wireless NICs are becoming 
>more popular and network install approach "default" (with FC5 anaconda 
>and newly discussed capabilities) it will become increasingly more 
>important to get these "popular" cards under "Just Works" functionality 
>during installs. What is required to get ootb functionality for a device 
>like this? Here are some relevant links:
>
>Ralink site with source:
>http://www.ralinktech.com.tw/supp-1.htm
>
>rt2x00 Open Source Project
>http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
>

Having followed the rt2x00 development I know the guys are keen to get
this driver in the kernel eventually.  The rt2x00 cards are avaiable
cheaply in Australia in both PCI and PCMCIA formats and work well, so
there's quite a few people using them

The intention is the unify their rt2400 and rt2500 drivers in a
completely new base currently under development, the rt2x00.  This
driver compiles (sometimes) but isn't close to use, however they are
working hard too make sure that it's fit for inclusion in the kernel at
such a time that it is ready (whatever that means).

The rt2x00 is intended to share wireless infrastructure in the kernel.
It will also move from using ra[x] as it's device name (something that
comes from the RaLink driver) to using a more appropriate device name in
line with current kernel thinking (I think this means using eth[x], but
there seems to be another identifier used for some wireless cards, so
this needs to be thought through.)

One think I'm sure of is that they would welcome anyone willing to get
in and contribute the the development of the new (or exisiting) drivers.

Hope that gives a little heads up.


Rodd