The ndiswrapper makes use of the Microsoft device driver. mdiswrapper can be be started using /etc/modules.autoload.d. It requires the two Microsoft device driver files *.inf and *.sys . The command ndiswrapper -i<Path to Microsoft drivers>.< Driver name>.inf tells the ndiswrapper where the files are.

This USB Wlan interface from Linksys WUSB54GC is probably more tricky to install, but having USB allows to be plugged into almost every hardware.

and is now included in the newer kernels 2.6.25, so there is no need anymore to emerge it separately.

As an alternative there are also driver packages from ralinktech, the manufacturer of the chip set.

Note: WUSB54GC has there the name: RT2501USB.

When the USB adapter is plugged in then a firmware has to be downloaded to the WLAN USB device first. The name of the file is rt73.bin and has to be be put into /lib/firmware. This can be done manually or by unmasking and emerge rt73-firmware. Verify that dmesg will not show the firmware error.

Create kernel where IEEE802.11 support is selected and then select also rt2x00. Select in the kernel rt73usb. Load the kernel module:

modprobe rt73usb

and/or add

rt73usb

to /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6

to have it loaded automatically during next boot.

usbview shows the card (a useful /dev/file can not be seen, neither for eth0, udevadm monitor --env sees the card when plugged in/out.). Check to see if it got accepted by the system.

This driver comes with the kernel source. Build a kernel with it preferably as module. Load the module ath5k by putting it into /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6 or do a modprobe ath5k.

Madwifi has been developed by the same people as ath5k and will be replaced one day with ath5k. Set therefore the madwifi useflag.

Since ath5k comes with the kernel source, there is no need to emerge madwifi-ng to get the driver. However emerge madwifi-ng-tools to get the associated tools.

There might be a conflict between the kernel module ath5k and the madwifi module ath_pci when both are loaded together.

Do a emerge wireless-tools to get iwconfig that is similar to ifconfig or ip and shows you the stuff about Wlan. Wireless tools lets you try out WEP that is not very save, but easy to try out a connection.

Make sure you have loaded the kernel module for your hardware. When not included in the kernel lsmod should show it. If it is not there, modprobe ath5k to load an Atheros wireless PCI Express Adapter or modprobe rt73usb for the Linksys WUSB54GC. Since the first tests are done manually /etc/conf.d/net should contain nothing about wlan.

Type iwconfig to see your interfaces and its names, ifconfig will not show anything.

However just in case do a: ifconfig wlan0 down

Set to managed mode this means somewhere is an access point and you are a client. If not already set to managed: iwconfig wlan0 mode managed

You have to give your network a name, the ESSID this has to be the same name on all devices that want to communicate with each other (your wireless router and your PC):

iwconfig wlan0 essid <my net>

Verify that your interface and the AP use the same channel, if not do:

iwconfig wlan0 channel 11

And if you have set WEP with a static key in our AP, let your PC know about it:

iwconfig wlan0 key e7dddcee7d

Bring up the client interface: ifconfig wlan0 up. After a few seconds iwconfig should also have the Access Point field with a number, so it is associated.

You might use iwlist wlan0 scan to see the ESSID of your AP (Access Point). (Encryption key currently turned off during these tests):

iwlist wlan0 scan

wlan0 Scan completed :

Cell 01 - Address: 00:AF:C5:DD:85:32

ESSID:"ZyXEL"

Mode:Master

Channel:1

Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)

Quality=54/100 Signal level=-34 dBm

Encryption key:off

Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s

6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s

36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s

Extra:tsf=000000001ff9d46e

Give yourself an IP address ifconfig wlan0 up 192.168.1.7

And now you should be able to do a ping -c 3 192.168.1.1 assuming this is the address of your AP.

To see what is set use iwlist. Example to see the keys: iwlist wlan0 keys

To have the interface automatically up, follow the Gentoo handbook and use wlan0 instead of eth0. I did not use the /etc/conf.d/wireless file at all (it seems not a good idea to create this file from /etc/conf.d/wireless.example) I just used /etc/conf.d/net and followed the Gentoo handbook.

Set replace in the following <essid> with your essid and add it to /etc/conf.d/net:

modules=(“iwconfig”)

config_<essid>=(“dhcp”)

key_<essid>=”e7dddcee7d”

preferred_aps=(“<essid>”)

Create the useful link to start the wlan connection:

ln -s /etc/init.d/net.lo /etc/init.d/net.wlan0

Type emerge -pv wpa_supplicant to if useflags like madwifi are enabled. Madwifi enables atheros chipset to be supported by wpa_suplicant. After that emerge wpa_supplicant

To see what drivers wap_supplicant supports, type:

wpa_supplicant -h don't expect too much the list of supported drivers will be short. However it supports ndiswrapper. When enabling the madwifi useflag then madwifi pops up there. Since the first tests are done manually /etc/conf.d/net should contain nothing about wlan.

Make sure the driver is loaded and no other has taken the chip.

To encrypt the key type wpa_passphrase <essid> <mykey> and then edit /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf to hold something as

network={

ssid=<my ssid>

key_mgmt=WPA-PSK

proto=WPA2

pairwise=CCMP

group=CCMP

psk=”<my key encrypted>”

}

To start wpa_supplicant type

wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -D madwifi -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

To /etc/conf.d/net add:

modules=(“wpa_supplicant”)

wpa_supplicant_wlan0=”-Dmadwifi”