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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So you want to test PCMCIA wireless cards for laptops?  I imagine the process might look something like this:
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Testing method for WiFi PC Cards (ver. 3)
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# Get a laptop
 
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# Install a bunch of drivers.  These can be found under System > Administration > Restricted Drivers Manager
 
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# Take a bunch of wireless cards and the laptop to the classroom (or somewhere that gets a wireless signal) and insert a wireless card.
 
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:* does it work with the GUI?
 
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:* open a terminal window and type "sudo iwconfig" to see chipset (usually under "Nickname")
 
  
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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.
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# 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.
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# 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.
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# In a terminal window, run a shell script which does
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#:  lspci | grep Network | grep -v 00:
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#:  iwconfig | grep wlan | grep -v wlan0
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# The first line returned by the script tells the chipset; the last line returned by the script tells if the card worked.
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# 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.
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# 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
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# 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.
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# 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)

  1. Set up a laptop which is not cabled to the LAN. Preferably, it should have no WiFi internal card; remove if practical.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. In a terminal window, run a shell script which does
    lspci | grep Network | grep -v 00:
    iwconfig | grep wlan | grep -v wlan0
  5. The first line returned by the script tells the chipset; the last line returned by the script tells if the card worked.
  6. 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.
  7. 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
  8. 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.
  9. 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

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