# Please suggest PCI NIC for wireless



## mefizto (Jun 10, 2010)

Greetings all,

I was wondering if someone could recommend a wireless PCI NIC, with which one has a positive experience both installation wise and performance wise.  Intended OS is FreeBSD 8.0.-8.1.

Kindest regards,

M


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## zeiz (Jun 10, 2010)

FreeBSD supports tons of NICs.
To choose one take a brief look at /sys/ARCH/conf/GENERIC (kernel config file).


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## mefizto (Jun 10, 2010)

Dear zeiz,

I do understand that FreeBSD "supports tons of NICs".  But please re-read my message: ". . .a PCI NIC, _with which one has a positive experience_."

Kindest regards,

M


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## SirDice (Jun 10, 2010)

Branding makes things a bit tricky these days. Best to find out what chipset a card uses. The name or brand of the card itself usually doesn't matter. Most will stick to a reference design anyway.

Realtek isn't too good. They work but don't expect miracles. They are cheap though :e


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## mefizto (Jun 10, 2010)

Greetings all,

can I edit the tile, I forgot to mention that I need a wireless NIC.

Kindest regards,

M


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## DutchDaemon (Jun 11, 2010)

Yeah, that's quite a distinction ... Atheros chipsets usually work out of the box. Again: lots of (re)branding.


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## phoenix (Jun 11, 2010)

Any wireless NIC that supports 108 Mbps uses the Atheros SuperG chipset, which is fully supported in FreeBSD since 6.0 was released many many moons ago.  This is the best supported chipset in FreeBSD.  It's only 802.11g.  But, if you have a wireless router that supports 108 Mbps (aka a SuperG router), then you will get the full 108 Mbps throughput.  Otherwise, you'll be limited to the standard 54 Mbps of 802.11g.


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## jb_fvwm2 (Jun 11, 2010)

bsdstats.org has a devices section which 
reports devices currently in use.  Those may
be worthwhile and maybe even obtainable cheaper
used if suitable
(device stats >> network controllers >> )
then two of the three links have atheros, other
wireless chipsets and/or devices mentioned.


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