Netgear WN111-100NAR hardware versions and free drivers

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t3g
t3g
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 05/15/2011

With the Netgear WN111 USB wireless adapter, it has two versions. Version 1 is Broadcom and Version 2 is the free Atheros 9170 chipset. Of course I want Version 2 due to the free driver. It is listed as an Atheros 9170 chipset when I type "modinfo carl9170" in the terminal even if it is not listed on the H-Node website.

I am looking to buy this online really cheap and the product description only says "WN111-100NAR" which I have no idea what version it is. Do I actually have to see v1 or v2 on the box or adapter itself to see the difference? The online Netgear information is really no help.

Chris

I am a member!

Hors ligne
A rejoint: 04/23/2011

That is one of the problems with buying a random card. 'Going cheap' isn't going cheap. It ultimately costs more because the information you have isn't reliable. I should probably also point out that the chance of the adapter actually having the AR9170 chipset at this point is practically zero. The chipset hasn't been readily available for months... years. Our last batch came from a factory in Taiwan that specialises in higher end product. It's why we only have more expensive USB adapters with that chipset still.

It's better to group together to reduce costs in the long run. We're working with Atheros on a new chipset although the USB adapters are going to cost a fortune to manufacture. It's not so bad on per card basis although the initial purchase multiplied by thousands of cards adds up even at a fraction of price.

We are looking at probably at least 5-6 months before the new chipset will be in a USB dongle and available... and possibly longer until Trisquel has out of the box support. Just manufacturing them will take 3 1/2 months.

I'd actually recommend the RTL8187B chipset over the AR9170 chipset. While the prior is not as feature rich or as fast the chipset works better for typical desktop use. The benefits of the AR9170 chipset is you can setup an access point with it. Although I'd probably go with a PCIe if I were going to setup an access point anyway.

MagicFab
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 12/13/2010

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On 08/16/2012 06:24 PM, name at domain wrote:
> With the Netgear WN111 USB wireless adapter, it has two versions. Version 1 is Broadcom and
Version 2 is the free Atheros 9170 chipset. Of course I want Version 2
due to the free driver. It is listed as an Atheros 9170 chipset when I
type "modinfo carl9170" in the terminal even if it is not listed on the
H-Node website.
>
> I am looking to buy this online really cheap and the product
description only says "WN111-100NAR" which I have no idea what version
it is. Do I actually have to see v1 or v2 on the box or adapter itself
to see the difference? The online Netgear information is really no help.

That's exactly the reason I bought one from ThinkPenguin - and it's
saved the day quite a few times already when onboard wifi wouldn't work
on certain laptops. There's a premium but money goes to Trisquel and to
the business, while saving me time & grief.

I wouldn't use modinfo to get chipset specs on a live environment,
though. I prefer going with USB IDs and sudo lshw -C network (in this case).

Cheers,

F.

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t3g
t3g
Hors ligne
A rejoint: 05/15/2011

Well TP was my first place to look, but the n USB dongles are over $50 and I was looking for dongles that were free software and under $20.

Chris

I am a member!

Hors ligne
A rejoint: 04/23/2011

As I said before you aren't going to find one. There aren't any stocks anywhere still left. We are the last place to have any stock of any USB adapter with this chipset. I saw it coming a year or two (maybe more) ago. Unfortunately I didn't react quickly enough or we would have a cheaper adapter with this chipset still available.

There is $30 USD off with the coupon code: 30OFFANT. You have to get the antenna with it though. This coupon is only available because we don't have the cheaper adapter still and are trying to make this semi-affordable. Unfortunately it's eating away at the profits. It's an adapter that would otherwise retail at over $100 USD.

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-usb-req-antennas

Again I would not advise this chipset except for those setting up access points anyway...