USB Wireless NIC

[jaredadams]

Does pfsense support these?  Is there a list?

[jimp]

Check the info here, especially the second tab with models.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AojFUXcbH0ROdHgwYkFHbkRUdV9hVWljVWl5SXkxbFE&hl=en#gid=0

[jaredadams]

very nice info.  Quite a few. Good to know.

Going to do this: http://weblog.mrbill.net/archives/2009/07/26/building-the-perfect-routerfirewall-for-45/

a pci riser card and a usb wireless adapter for wifi would be really nice.

[jimp]

Just be sure to get one with a driver that has a "yes" in the hostap column if you want it to be an access point.

[Craigusoz]

Just be sure to get one with a driver that has a "yes" in the hostap column if you want it to be an access point

Also note that none of the Ralink drivers currently (as far as I can tell) support WiFi power save mode when run as hostap. This will cause link loss with some clients.

[CptCowboy]

@jimp:

Check the info here, especially the second tab with models.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AojFUXcbH0ROdHgwYkFHbkRUdV9hVWljVWl5SXkxbFE&hl=en#gid=0

I just dont get it.
Which USB Wireless Adapter will work out of the box with PfSense 1.2.3?
I just need an WLAN N-Standard USB Adapter.

Will one of those adapter work oob?

rum Ralink USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes

These are the chipset but how do i know which model uses rt2xxxx ? is it better to have a hostap yes or multi usb stick?

Who created this list? is it certain that they'll work?

Do all usb adapters from this list http://www.freebsd.org/releases/7.0R/hardware.html#WLAN work with pfsense too? PfSense 1.2.3 is based on freebsd 7.2 right??

Is this option possible aswell: Installation of a third LAN Interface (PCI) and connect an accessp point via cat6 cable? Do all access points work , or do i've to look for special specifications? If i buy a lan card with intel chipset The em(4) driver supports Gigabit Ethernet adapters based on the Intel 82540, 82541ER, 82541PI, 82542, 82543, 82544, 82545, 82546, 82546EB, 82546GB, 82547, 82571, 82572, 82573, and 82574 controller chips: do i ' ve to install any drivers?

[bmironb]

From my experience: i've buy an usb wifi adapter from tp link wich was not compatible with pfsense:(…i've made no research befor that :) so i started to use an ap on lan interfece  lan interface->switch->ap
                                                                                    ->dhcp clients pfsense

It's a router wired on switch wich has ip from pfsense (dhsp enable on lan interface)
If nic card is recognized on pfsense you don't need a driver for it or for ap, just a right configuration on ip(correct config for wan, dinamic or you can set an static ip for router/ap mac), in my case i also used an swich because i wanted that all dhpc clients to have ip's assigned from pfsense not from ap, ap is just for wifi ! and is working great, and wifi it's realy stable !

Also if you use lan interface with 1gps you can use also a ap with more than 54mbps wich in usb or pci card is not possible from what i understand in other posts...

It's working great !

[CptCowboy]

An USB WiFi Dongle would be okay, i just need one model which i can buy!

It would be great if it could work out of the box without any drivers to install!

[wallabybob]

As best I can tell the "rum" chipset went "end of life" a couple of years ago. It has been superseded by the "run" chipset which wasn't supported until pfSense 2.0.

You might be able to pick up a suitable used USB dongle on eBay though take care because many suppliers of WiFi add-on devices quietly change the chipset without changing the model number.

I think you might be better off upgrading to pfSense 2.0.1 and then you should be able to use a Tenda W311U or TP-Link WN321G. The Tenda is supported by the the run driver, the TP-Link by the rum driver (if you manage to get an "old" one) or the run driver.

If you use a "run" device pfSense will need a tweak to get the device firmware loaded at boot time.