Is it difficult to set up a wireless router and use it w/ Fedora?

[donJulio]

I have a Linksys wireless router, but I've never set up a wireless connection :( My computer is right next to the router and is wired to it. I however would like to move the computer to the living room (currently in the bedroom) and unwire it, finally taking advantage of the wireless router.

First, is this difficult to do w/ Linux (Fedora)? I think I may need to configure the router while it's still wired to the computer, setting up the SSID, the password, and changing the default user and password. I think I need to do this while it's wired because I'm not sure that there is a way to do this unwired (simply because I wouldn't know what the SSID or password are).

I'm planning to do a clean OS install when Fedora Core 2 is final. If I already have the wireless router set up by then, is it hard to set up the wireless adapter? Is setting up the wireless adapter something I can do on installation? Is there any suggestions you can give me? I'm asking in this forum because I know that there is no real point calling Linksys and asking there customer service. Also, all the wireless routers I've looked at have instructions that involve Windows XP.

Thanks! :)
don Julio

[Jman]

It all depends on the specific hardware. To prepare for this it would be a good idea to find out the brand and model of all the network hardware. Hopefully there will be a driver ready to go. Sometimes they are hard to find and setup.

The Windows instructions are not completely useless. The information they tell you can be relevant. The problem comes if the device needs Windows only drivers to run.

I have not used wireless with Fedora, but I have configured a D-Link 524 wireless router with Fedora and Mozilla. :)

[johnallen]

I am using a Linksys wireless router with Fedora running on a Toshiba laptop. It works fine.

[donJulio]

Would it be safe to assume it doesn't matter what wireless router I use, but rather the wireless PCI card I use and whether or not it has a Linux driver. Am I wrong?

Where would I go to find out what wireless PCI cards are supported in Linux?

[mars_hall]

Once the router is set up, as long as the wireless card is functioning them the connection should be relitivly painless. Unfortunatly My linux box is connected directly to my DLink wireless hub, and my other workstations are running on windows using wireless connections (I fear I might have a mutiny on my hands if I were to format thier systems :eek: ) so much for being "Lord of the castle"

[logan5]

I would say that you are correct. The router that you are connecting to doesn't really matter. The wifi nic is what matters. If you can get it working in your computer, it will connect to any wifi router. The only thing to be aware of is that there are different standards in wifi. Your Linksys is probably 802.11b. There is also 802.11a and 802.11g. I would look for a newer nic that supporst all 3.

Do a google search. I just did one for "linux wifi nic" and the second one that came up is

http://www.debianhelp.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3120&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

It's from a debian forum, but it's a good read that I think would apply to any linux distro. I would take my time and do some research to make sure that it supports linux before buying anything.

[Thoreau]

you might want to browse the HCL at linuxquestions http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/index.php?cat=10