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Spelling: USB_WiFi_on_OpenWRT
I'm keen to see if anyone can get a USB WiFi [1] device to work on a
USB-enabled router such as the WL-500G Premium [2]. Doing so means we
can cheaply and easily add extra radios without having to worry about
extra CAT5 runs or extra power supplies for multiple routers.
The main problem with USB-WiFi radios is they tend to be lower power
- typically 13dBi, and they rarely have external antenna connections -
still, they may be useful in some situations.
RAILINK CHIP DONGLES
Someone on the OpenWRT forums [3] has gotten a Ralink RT2570 USB WiFi
[4] dongle to work with OpenWRT [5] Kamikaze after compiling it
themselves...
If you download the current Kamikaze source, or a known good revision
of the Kamikaze source, you sould be able to easily add support for
the RT2570 to the kernel and compile the driver just by doing "make
menuconfig" and selecting the RT2570 package.
OpenWRT makefile for the rt2570 driver [6]
How to use the rt2570 driver [7]
Lists of devices that use the rt2570 driver [8]
http://ralink.rapla.net/ [9]
How to get the Asus WL-167G to work (using the RT2570 driver)
http://folk.ntnu.no/gronslet/blog/2005/06/05/asus-wl-167g-usb-wireless-wlan-adapter-in-linux/
[10]
Staticice [11] shows the Asus WL-167G for $AU33 at msy.com.au
Link to the Netcomm wlg25usb adapter [12] which has a non-removable
external antenna (which might be easier to hack another antenna onto)
Staticice [13] lists these as AU$32.39 from Minidigital in WA.
ZYDAS CHIP DONGLES
The following device, FCC ID PANWL2203, is a USB dongle with an
external RPSMA connector. It is available from au.wifi-link.com [14]
and is AU$47 for one.
Doing a google search I found a few devices with the model number
WL2203 or similar that use a ZyDAS [15] ZD1211 chipset. There is an
Open Source Linux driver project [16] for it.
This driver seems to have been included into the OpenWRT [17]
Kamikaze snapshots for broadcom routers using a 2.6 Linux kernel:
OpenWRT Kamikaze brcm-2.6 packages [18]
Do a search for zd1211 on the above page to find the two packages you
need to test it.
I would like to see a performance test for this dongle to see how
good it's radio really is.
OTHER STUFF
This is a funny USB-wireless solution which might actually be useful
[19]
I.e. you could use the USB power from a WL-500GP to power a Meraki
Mini, and connect the two routers with a crossover cable inside a
weatherproof box. Or it might be possible to power the Meraki with PoE
[20] and then pick 5V off the Meraki's board to power the WL-500GP.
Links:
------
[1] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?WiFi
[2] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?WL500GP
[3] http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=9623
[4] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?WiFi
[5] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?OpenWRT
[6] https://dev.openwrt.org/browser/trunk/package/rt2570/Makefile
[7] http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=106846
[8] http://www.vendorwatch.org/index.php?title=Ralink
[9] http://ralink.rapla.net/
[10]
http://folk.ntnu.no/gronslet/blog/2005/06/05/asus-wl-167g-usb-wireless-wlan-adapter-in-linux/
[11] http://staticice.com.au
[12] http://www.dynalink.com.au/products/wlg25usb.htm
[13] http://staticice.com.au
[14]
http://au.wifi-link.com/product.php?action=product&class1_id=13&class2_id=409&class3_id=410&product_id=994
[15] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?ZyDAS
[16] http://zd1211.ath.cx/
[17] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?OpenWRT
[18] http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/brcm-2.6/packages/
[19] http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=9412
[20] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?PoE
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