802.11b+ cards are notoriously unsupported under Linux. This is likely because the cards are "frequency-agile" and open-source drivers would allow hackers to change their cards to operate in military frequencies. Vendors have therefore obfuscated the workings of these cards and have steadfastly refused to allow open source hackers to use them with their operating systems of choice. Now, one free software coder has reverse-engineered the instructions and has released a free software set of drivers for the commonest 802.11b+ chipset on Sourceforge. Good Slashdot thread going on about this:
Companies such as D-Link had initially promised to release linux drivers for these cards but later backed down from that promise and announced that Linux would not be supported and that customers should not hold on to the cards in the hope of getting them working, as shown on their current FAQ. Texas Instruments, the makers of the chipsets upon which these 802.11b+ cards are based refused to release code or specifications for the cards, no doubt for similar reasons that were recently discussed here. The fact that the current alpha release is certainly as good, and in some areas better, than the binary drivers that escaped from one of the card manufactureres speaks volumes for the quality and determination of the team to create their own drivers.
