Over the past few years I've played around with Ubuntu having installed it on several machines. One of the things that I always run into is getting the wireless card to work. So many people get frustrated with Ubuntu because of this and end up missing out on having fun using this wonderful operating system.
This article will discuss my recommendations on the best, less painful way to get wireless Internet up and running.
I don't know about you but I just hate having to waste countless hours trying to get a wireless card to work in Ubuntu. I've had several Linksys cards (namely the WMP54G) that I struggled to get to work. If you hate having to build drivers, install ndiswrapper, type in all sorts of strange cryptic commands into initialization files, then you come to the right place.
I'm going to keep this as simple as possible. The easiest solution is to get these components:
You can get Ubuntu 9.10 free by downloading it off the Ubuntu website. Download the ISO image and then burn it using an ISO burner software for Windows. You can find many free versions at download.com.
Both the WMP600N ($80) and WRT310N ($80) you can find at Amazon.com. So plan on spending around $120-$160 bucks. Wireless N is worth it and very fast.
Now the beauty is, its painless and works straight out of the box.
First install Ubuntu 9.10 on your desktop PC system. Then setup the router to the modem. Insert the WMP600N wireless card into the PC.
At the top of Ubuntu desktop is a panel bar. You should see a set of icons just to the left of an envelope icon. Left click on it and the Network Manager menu should appear. Choose your SSID and then enter in the password if needed. You should now be connected to the Internet.
Yes, its that easy when you know what components work with each other. If you don't, then you are in for a long, frustrating exercise in pain.