-
Halleleujah ! 6.2.1 Has Amazing WiFI !
I just d/l'd the latest CD+DVD, tried them in my shop Tuesday, and was TOTALLY blown away ! I had a couple of PCs in my shop w/ wireless problems. Several days ago, I'd GOOGLEd for a live CD with good wireless support, in anticipation of a day like yesterday. While the tests weren't an exhaustive, scientific survey, Knoppix 6.2.1 was most impressive.
Specifically, I had a Compaq F756 laptop and a Gateway T1630 laptop, both w/ failed WiFi under Vista. Customers were planning to reimage both, to try and restore WiFi. The Compaq customer was going to be a PITA, if reimaging didn't restore WiFi, so I boot the Compaq from my 6.2.1 disc for laughs. In a minute or so, there's a bubble message from the networking icon on the taskbar, indicating there are wireless networks available ! I select my store's [unencrypted] hotspot, as I would from Windows, w/ a couple of mouse clicks. Just like that, I have another bubble message indicating a new connection ! A few seconds later, I was on the 'net using IceWeasel, visiting various [non-Flash] websites. I mention that I skipped Flash-oriented sites, bec all of the speed test sites I know of require a Flash-compatible browser, but performance [intuitively] seemed to be very good.
I tried 6.2.1 on five other wireless computers, w/ range of chipsets, but mostly different models of Atheros, one Intel 4965, and a Belkin F5D USB adapter. One laptop (a Dell Latitude 500) crashed before reaching the desktop, but the rest worked flawlessly !
For the sake of full disclosure, these weren't exhaustive tests including connectivity to WPA/WPA2 routers, persistence, robustness, etc. However, this release is a quantum leap over the last Knoppix release I spent time networking, specifically 5.1. It took many hours of reading, configuring, testing, and more re-reading, before I got working WiFi/WPA connectivity. I do intend to do a lot more testing during the coming days. Having said all that, this development (ie. introduction of the Network Manager applet) moves Linux a big step closer to novice-compatibility.
I really thought Knoppix was dead, giving the amount of time between official releases of a live CD (in the vicinity of two years !) It appears reports of Knoppix' demise have been exaggerated....
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
-
Forum Rules
ARUBA J9772A 2530-48G PoE+ 48 PORT ETHERNET SWITCH W/ RACK EARS J9772-60301
$299.95
HPE ARUBA 2530-24G J9773A PoE+ 24-PORT GIGABIT ETHERNET SWITCH J9773-60201
$209.95
Fortinet FortiSwitch FS-124D-POE 24 Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch UNREGISTERED
$99.97
Cisco SG300-52-Port Gigabit Managed Rack Mountable Network Switch
$44.95
Netgear 16-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch GS316 Unmanaged
$10.00
NETGEAR GS305300PAS 5 Port Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switch
$15.99
Netgear ProSafe FS116 Blue Fast Ethernet 16-Port 10/100 Unmanaged Desktop Switch
$12.80
TP-Link TL-SG108PE 8-port Gigabit Easy Smart PoE+ Swith w/ 4-port PoE - Sealed
$49.50
HP JG937A Flexnetwork 5130-48G PoE+ 48-Port Gigabit Network Switch
$59.99
Brocade ICX 7250-48 48-Port Gigabit Ethernet Network Switch | ICX7250-48-2X10G
$84.95