# Replacing the wireless card of an Asus EeePC 1000HE



## lele (Sep 10, 2012)

Hello,

I'd like to install FreeBSD on my Asus EeePC 1000HE netbook whose wireless card
is a Ralink RT2860, which does not support FreeBSD.  Hence, I'd like to replace
it.  According to the "AsusEee - FreeBSD Wiki":

"1000HE

Configurations are said to vary, especially wrt wireless modules. Some users
report Ralink cards.

[...]
ath(4): Atheros 5424/2424 (AW-GE780)
[...]"

Hence, the notebook was sold with a FreeBSD-compatible card.  Is Atheros 5424
the card model or the chipset?  I've found this card:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-IBM-A...Computing_NetworkCards_RL&hash=item3f175ecb5b

Is it the card I should buy?  The ad says it is only for Thinkpads...  Does that
matter when the model is the same and it is a mini-PCI card?

Anyway, I'm from the UK.  If you can recommend another wireless from another
seller, I'll have a look.

Thanks.


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## lele (Sep 10, 2012)

Apparently, the card I should get is the Atheros AR9280, which is supported in
FreeBSD 9-CURRENT:

"3.5 Wireless Network Interfaces

[...]

[i386,pc98,amd64,sparc64] The ath(4) driver supports all Atheros Cardbus and PCI
cards, except those that are based on the AR5005VL chipset."

See: http://www.freebsd.org/relnotes/CURRENT/hardware/support.html#WLAN


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## wblock@ (Sep 10, 2012)

Yes, I have tested an AR9280 with FreeBSD.  Be careful, there are full and half-sized cards, and differing number of antenna connectors, two versus three.  This card was recycled from a Macbook, and has FCC ID PPD-AR5BXB72P.


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## lele (Sep 16, 2012)

I realized that replacing the internal wireless card would have required disassembling the netbook, and risking to break things, therefore I went for a supported USB wireless dongle, a Belkin F5D7050 version 3 (FCC ID: K7S-F5D7050B).

EDIT: Now, if I only managed to find a supported smaller dongle...  Anyway, this could be the easiest solution for people who discover that the internal cards of their netbooks are not supported.


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