What is a PCIe 802.11/b/g/n compatible card? (re: half-length cards)

[sofakng]

I'm running pfSense on a
Super Micro X7SPA-HF motherboard inside a Super Micro CSE-502L-200B chassis and I need a PCI Express wireless card.

According to the chassis (1U) manual, I need a "full-height, half-length" card and a PCI Express riser card.

Can anybody give me any recommendations?

I'd like something that supports 802.11/b/g/n and dual-band (so I can use 802.11g and 802.11n at the same time).

Thanks for any suggestions!

EDIT:  Hmmm… is it true that 802.11n isn't supported at all by pfSense?

[wallabybob]

As best I have been able to tell, there are limited options in PCIe wireless NICs and they are comparatively expensive.

I'm using a "N capable" USB NIC. There are at least a couple of cheap "N capable" USB wireless NICs.

@sofakng:

EDIT:  Hmmm… is it true that 802.11n isn't supported at all by pfSense?

I believe the current state of affairs of pfSense 2.0 is that some "n capable" cards are supported but the "n specific" features (including speeds above 54Mbps) are not yet supported. I have a "n capable" interface working on pfSense 2.0 but don't have any other "n capable" equipment to try "N" speeds. My "g" netbook talks fine with this "n capable" interface.

[sofakng]

Thanks for the information.

Does that USB adapter work in pfSense?

Right now I'm looking at the D-Link DWA-556 which is PCI Express and uses the Atheros 5008 chip which supposedly works.  I don't really need N speeds so it's not a huge problem… I just want to get rid of my separate access point really.

[wallabybob]

The TP-Link TL-WN321G is a "G" device, supports AP mode and is supported in pfSense 1.2.3 and 2.0.

The Tenda W311U is a 150  MHz "N" device supported by the run driver in pfSense2.0 and supports AP mode. I have both of these devices and they give satisfactory performance around my two floor house. I have not run any sustained downloads or uploads over either device.

The Tenda W322U is allegedly a 300MHz version of the W311U so should also be supported by the run driver in pfSense 2.0 but I have no experience with it.

[knnniggett]

Since I've got the same motherboard & case, I thought I'd share my plan to do the same thing:

Potential Solution A:

• PCI-to-PCIe Adapter http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170622796586&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

• PCIe flex riser

• Standard supported PCI wireless card (e.g. Atheros)

Potential Solution B:

• PCIe-to-MiniPCIe Adpater http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180669083818&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

• PCIe flex riser

• Supported miniPCIe wireless card (e.g. Intel 3945abg)

Parts have not arrived yet so I cannot report on how well either plan works at the moment.

[cheonne]

@wallabybob:

The TP-Link TL-WN321G is a "G" device, supports AP mode and is supported in pfSense 1.2.3 and 2.0.

The Tenda W311U is a 150  MHz "N" device supported by the run driver in pfSense2.0 and supports AP mode. I have both of these devices and they give satisfactory performance around my two floor house. I have not run any sustained downloads or uploads over either device.

The Tenda W322U is allegedly a 300MHz version of the W311U so should also be supported by the run driver in pfSense 2.0 but I have no experience with it.

this is a great idea bob, im planning for this stuff - tenda w311u.
if ever i have this stuff i will extend the cabling for this, doing some DIY…^^
instead of using router which gives me headache...lol