[PLUG] Linux-compatible laptops

[Russell Senior]

>>>>> "Keith" == Keith Lofstrom <keithl at kl-ic.com> writes:

Robert> I'm about to get a new laptop, and it would be nice to get one
Robert> at a retail store whose hardware was supported by Linux. The
Robert> only problem I have ever encountered with earlier laptops was
Robert> with the Wifi adapter, but now that most of the new ones don't
Robert> have PCMCIA slots (to provide Wifi connectivity if the
Robert> built-in Wifi adapter doesn't work), this is an important
Robert> point.

Keith> Alternative - USB2.0 WIFI adapters.  The ZD1211B based devices
Keith> are cheap, and work out of the box with Ubuntu.  If you are
Keith> running an older driver, you may need to compile a driver
Keith> module.

Yes, USB is an option.

Keith> Although Wifi is built into most laptops, it is usually low
Keith> power 5mW stuff, not a lot of range.  

Not true.

a) in the olden days, commodity wifi radios were typically 30 mW.  A
   few years ago, if you had an intel radio, it was 100 mW.  Though I
   haven't looked recently, I expect at least that or higher now.
   Atheros radios are in that range as well.  If you are curious,
   check out the FCC documents on your device (by looking up the FCCID
   in their online database).  People selling rf gear in the US are
   required to disclose lots of goodies and it ends up there.  I am
   not aware of *any* wifi radio as weak as 5 mW.  An iphone, btw, has
   a wifi radio with a tx power of 500 mW.  The FCC limitation is 1W
   with a 6 dBi antenna.  Almost no one does or should use that much.

b) The built-in wifi is almost always better than an external wifi and
   the reason is that the built-in wifi has better antennas (there's a
   lot of room in the lid to stash antenna elements).  A USB wifi
   dongle has almost no room for an antenna, not even a quarter-wave
   dipole.  As a consequence, the gain on a USB dongles radio is going
   to be very low.  A few years ago, I connected with a stock IBM
   (atheros, probably 100 mW) radio and stock lid antenna 2 miles away
   from the top of Mt Tabor to the Hawthorne Hostel, which is a rather
   surprising-but-true story that I am still (as you can tell)
   repeating to people.  Without an unweildy antenna, you are unlikely
   to outdo that.

Keith> Drivers can be a problem, and they often change chipsets on the
Keith> supposed same model of laptop.

Yes.  Manufacturers often substitute different components, so if they
don't say specifically, don't assume.


-- 
Russell Senior, Secretary
russell at personaltelco.net