From owner-freebsd-wireless@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Feb 5 01:31:04 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-wireless@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id A3CEAD84; Wed, 5 Feb 2014 01:31:04 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 488F813AB; Wed, 5 Feb 2014 01:31:04 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id s151UroI042097; Tue, 4 Feb 2014 18:30:53 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.14.7/8.14.7/Submit) with ESMTP id s151UroA042094; Tue, 4 Feb 2014 18:30:53 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2014 18:30:53 -0700 (MST) From: Warren Block To: Waitman Gobble Subject: Re: recommended usb wifi device? In-Reply-To: <52F18DB5.70407@da3m0n8t3r.com> Message-ID: References: <52F16122.9010106@freebsd.org> <52F17F60.8040900@da3m0n8t3r.com> <52F18C00.2030706@freebsd.org> <52F18DB5.70407@da3m0n8t3r.com> User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (BSF 1167 2008-08-23) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.4.3 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Tue, 04 Feb 2014 18:30:53 -0700 (MST) Cc: freebsd-wireless@freebsd.org, Colin Percival X-BeenThere: freebsd-wireless@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.17 Precedence: list List-Id: "Discussions of 802.11 stack, tools device driver development." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2014 01:31:04 -0000 On Tue, 4 Feb 2014, Waitman Gobble wrote: > On 2/4/2014 4:55 PM, Colin Percival wrote: >> On 02/04/14 16:01, Waitman Gobble wrote: >>> Ralink is a good choice esp. for USB. You might have trouble using other >>> supported chipsets which are connected to the USB port. >>> >>> Also note that the wireless card in the laptop can be replaced for about >>> ten >>> bucks. It's typically the easiest thing to replace in a laptop. If you >>> decide to >>> swap out your wifi card I'd recommend Atheros. >> >> I considered that, but I've heard rumours about laptop BIOSes blacklisting >> wifi cards from other manufacturers, so I figured a USB device was an >> easier >> solution. >> > > That's a potential issue. I've only seen that happen with HP laptops, but you > should research before spending the ten bucks. Lenovo does it too. So far, I have not encountered an Acer or Dell with the problem. Recent Toshiba models are made by Acer, but I can't recall changing the wireless card in one. Dell often uses Broadcom cards. It would be nice if the new Broadcom partipation in FreeBSD would extend to improving their wireless drivers.