Q I currently use an Alcatel modem (SpeedTouch 330) given to me by my ISP and I simply can't get it to work with Linux (I'm using Gentoo Linux with 2.6.9 kernel). I decided to build a wireless home network, so I'm planning to buy a D-Link DSL-G604T wireless ADSL router. My first question: is this hardware fully compatible with Linux or do I need to install any drivers as with the Alcatel modem? I have a notebook, and I want to connect it to the network through a wireless cardbus adapter. I want a card supported natively by a kernel module, something that could work straight out of the box with Knoppix, for example. After some reading I found that it should be a card with the Prism 2/2.5/3 chipset, but I'm confused and don't know how to find a manufacturer/vendor of a popular cheap card with that chipset. So my second question is, can you suggest a good adaptor using the Prism chipset? Thank you for your help.
A The wireless router from D-Link will make the connection to your ISP over the DSL circuit, so you will not need any PPPoE or PPPoA support on the Linux system. You can connect straight into the router using Ethernet, and DHCP against the router for an internal address. Essentially, everything will be offloaded on to the router, making your Linux system a plain old workstation, rather than a router. As far as PCMCIA wireless adaptors are concerned, you can check out www.linux-wlan.org/ or www.prism54.org/. You'll find that Prism54 identifies devices supporting the 802.11g standard as well as 802.11b for faster connectivity. Prism2 and Prism54 cards are identified by Knoppix at boot time, and will enable you to access the internet easily without having to install a large number of supporting packages.