[ILUG] Naive ADSL/WiFi questions (long (sorry!))?

[Lars Hecking]

>  1. What is an ???eligible line??? (mine apparently is)?
>    The implication seems to be that all I have to do
>    is hook up the (supplied) modem to the existing
>    POTS line, and it ???just works???.
 
 Over here, the phone providers (Eircom, BT) have a little form on their
 web site to check a given phone line for broadband availability. Lacking
 that, you can always ring them.

>  2. The supplied modem is a (currently unknown) WiFi
>    unit.  I will be asking for details of this unit
>    (and its Linux compatibility); what should I be
>    looking for, and/or asking?

 Am I correct assuming we are talking about an ADSL wireless gateway,
 like e.g. Netopia's 3000 series used by Eircom? As long has the unit
 has at least one ethernet connector (some have ethernet+usb, some
 ethernet only), you're fine on the wired end.  Wireless is no problem
 either, the challenge is, however, to find a wireless card for the client
 that is supported on Linux. Make sure that the router supports 802.11g.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11

>  3. I presume I need some sort of a WiFi transceiver
>    connected to the Linux box.  At this point, I am
>    completely lost; I've no idea even exactly what
>    it is I need, other than _something_ since my box
>    has no networking connections of any kind at the
>    present time.  (Yes, it's that old!)

 Check out http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/. In general,
 Atheros and Intel/PRO based cards should work fine. The real challenge are
 cards where the manufacturer changed chipsets without renaming the model.
 Make sure the card supports 802.11g and WPA2 encryption - you definitely
 want to use encryption. Stay away from WEP, it is not secure.

 I am uncertain about 802.11n support on Linux at this time.

>     And how would I test the whatever(s?), _prior_ to
>    receiving the WiFi modem?  I.e., how could I confirm
>    that the Linux peer seems to be Ok?

 If it's a laptop, you could bring it to a public hot-spot, hotel, airport
 etc. and run "ifconfig <if> up ; iwlist <if> scan" to see what you pick up :)

>  4. I am currently running SUSE 9.1 (for which updates
>    no longer seem to be available  ;-\  ), which has
>    been selectively patched.  Are there any (known)
>    issues with WiFi / Q3 answers and this admittedly
>    old release?  (To-date, I've never had a very good
>    reason to upgrade; i.e., ???ain't broke ...???).
>     (I _think_ SUSE 9.1 supports WiFi; it has (just)
>    occurred to me I haven't actually checked .... !?)
 
 I never ran 9.1, but I had major problems configuring wireless through
 yast on 9.2 - had to resort to a manual script to get it to work. It may
 have been related to wpa_supplicant, though, and seems fixed under 9.3.