Difference between revisions of "Testing Wireless Cards"
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(first stab at how to test wireless PCMCIA cards) |
(added John Bartley's instructions) |
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− | + | Testing method for WiFi PC Cards (ver. 3) | |
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+ | # Set up a laptop which is not cabled to the LAN. Preferably, it should have no WiFi internal card; remove if practical. | ||
+ | # Insert into PC Card Slot. Watch for a power LED on the card (One light good; two lights gooder). Reboot if none appears and go to step 2 after login; if the power LED appears, go to step 2 now. | ||
+ | # Watch the WiFi signal strength meter in the panel for 60 secs. If it starts hunting for a connection, chances are good it will work. | ||
+ | # In a terminal window, run a shell script which does | ||
+ | #: lspci | grep Network | grep -v 00: | ||
+ | #: iwconfig | grep wlan | grep -v wlan0 | ||
+ | # The first line returned by the script tells the chipset; the last line returned by the script tells if the card worked. | ||
+ | # If the card worked, apply a sticker which says OK, the letter B if 802.11b or G if 802.11G, and the chipset found. | ||
+ | # If the chipset was found but the Freegeek wireless network was not found, use a Sharpie and mark that on the card after a bold X | ||
+ | # If the chipset was not found, reboot the PC and try again. If, after reboot, the chipset still was not found, put a bold XX on the card with a Sharpie. | ||
+ | # Sort the cards by working (5), retest X (6) and retest XX (7). The retest cards should be tested in a significantly different machine. | ||
check out this page, also: [[Wireless card compatibility list]] | check out this page, also: [[Wireless card compatibility list]] | ||
[[Category:Laptops]] | [[Category:Laptops]] |
Revision as of 12:02, 10 October 2009
Testing method for WiFi PC Cards (ver. 3)
- Set up a laptop which is not cabled to the LAN. Preferably, it should have no WiFi internal card; remove if practical.
- Insert into PC Card Slot. Watch for a power LED on the card (One light good; two lights gooder). Reboot if none appears and go to step 2 after login; if the power LED appears, go to step 2 now.
- Watch the WiFi signal strength meter in the panel for 60 secs. If it starts hunting for a connection, chances are good it will work.
- In a terminal window, run a shell script which does
- lspci | grep Network | grep -v 00:
- iwconfig | grep wlan | grep -v wlan0
- The first line returned by the script tells the chipset; the last line returned by the script tells if the card worked.
- If the card worked, apply a sticker which says OK, the letter B if 802.11b or G if 802.11G, and the chipset found.
- If the chipset was found but the Freegeek wireless network was not found, use a Sharpie and mark that on the card after a bold X
- If the chipset was not found, reboot the PC and try again. If, after reboot, the chipset still was not found, put a bold XX on the card with a Sharpie.
- Sort the cards by working (5), retest X (6) and retest XX (7). The retest cards should be tested in a significantly different machine.
check out this page, also: Wireless card compatibility list