Linux-friendly USB 802.11n

[Ken D'Ambrosio]

Gah.  Someone pointed out to me that I goofed on the micro-URLization.  
Here's the *correct* tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/l4guh9r

And, just to be on the safe side, the not-tiny URL, stripped of the 
unnecessary extra stuff sites love to throw on:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833389004

Sadly, in the interim, they've bumped the price a penny, and there's now 
$4.99 in S&H.  (Or I read the page wrong -- always possible.  I'd 
ordered several things together, so I wasn't paying as much attention to 
S&H as I might have normally.)

-Ken


On 2014-03-16 08:36, VirginSnow at vfemail.net wrote:

> I'm looking for a "Linux-friendly" 802.11n (Wireless N) USB adapter.  
> By
> "Linux-friendly", I mean I'm looking for one that will work with
> in-kernel drivers (no separate module to compile & install), without
> funky compatability layers (like NDIS wrapper), doesn't require extra
> firmware, and is free/open source.

Funny you should ask.  I was asking myself *the exact same question* 
last week.  I bought myself one of these: 
http://hardkernel.com/main/main.php .  And, while it does come 
pre-loaded with Ubuntu, I wasn't taking bets on proprietary drivers, 
etc., making the transition to ARM-land.  I Googled around, to no (real) 
avail, and finally decided to take the plunge with the cheapest one I 
could find on NewEgg:  .  (My rationalization being two-fold: it was 
cheap, so no huge loss if it didn't work, and "cheap" usually means 
"commoditized," so I was hoping it it would be a common, developed-for 
chipset.)

I plugged it in, and lo!  Immediately recognized.  Very shortly 
thereafter, I was online.

Until I saw your e-mail, though, I was content enough that it was 
working to not delve into whether I'd found the holy grail, or merely a 
reasonable facsimile.  However, I just looked at my modules, and it's 
using "usbnet" and "smsc95xx", both of which are in the stock Linux 
kernel, so I think it's the way to fly.  $9.99 and free shipping, and 
it's yours.

-Ken

P.S.  Of course, I make no guarantees as to whether or not it works for 
*YOU*, but it seems like a decent choice.  Make sure you have 
smsc95xx.ko, and you're probably safe.  Likewise, thus-far I've only 
used it in the same room as the WAP, so I can't swear as to its 
throughput, range, etc.  </weaselly worded disclaimer>