Wireless ac PCIe

[SCHISCHKA]

Iv just been through all the Wireless ac speed cards on pbtech and none of them appear to have linux drivers included in the kernel. I want to avoid proprietary drivers. Is there a wireless, ac , PCIe card with opensource drivers in NZ or able to be shipped from overseas at under $60NZD - I can pay more but for international orders it needs to be under the tax limit or it gets stupidly expensive with all the duty charges they slap on.

[flibberdipper]

This should do the trick just fine. https://pcpartpicker.com/product/r7RFf7/gigabyte-gc-wb867d-i-rev-42-none-wi-fi-adapter-gc-wb867d-i-rev-42

[SCHISCHKA]

8 minutes ago, tmcclelland455 said:

This should do the trick just fine. https://pcpartpicker.com/product/r7RFf7/gigabyte-gc-wb867d-i-rev-42-none-wi-fi-adapter-gc-wb867d-i-rev-42

that uses  Intel 8265 which has limited features in linux, a few bugs, and does not use drivers included in the kernel

[ARikozuM]

What OS? Do they have a list of approved wireless chips?

[flibberdipper]

36 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

that uses  Intel 8265 which has limited features in linux, a few bugs, and does not use drivers included in the kernel

Beggars can't be choosers...

[SCHISCHKA]

35 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

What OS? Do they have a list of approved wireless chips?

linux any kernel from 4.4

each chipset will have a page on the debian or archwiki. The trouble is going to each card finding which chip it uses.

4 minutes ago, tmcclelland455 said:

Beggars can't be choosers...

im not begging. I have quite a specific question thank you.

[flibberdipper]

1 hour ago, SCHISCHKA said:

im not begging. I have quite a specific question thank you.

It's an expression, mate. Ubuntu is a pain in the ass to get 100% guaranteed compatibility with. I used the last-gen version of the same card (only difference is Bluetooth 4.0 vs 4.2 I believe), and it worked flawlessly.

[GreenZombie]

This works and the price is reasonable.

 

https://www.asus.com/Networking/PCE-AC51/specifications/

 

 

[SCHISCHKA]

1 hour ago, GreenZombie said:

This works and the price is reasonable.

 

https://www.asus.com/Networking/PCE-AC51/specifications/

 

 

debian wiki says i need to use the non-free firmware and im trying to avoid this. Im use to using the ath9k driver and im trying to update to ac speed. I dont want closed drivers because i dont want my NIC to get knocked out from an update.

[GreenZombie]

Linux Mint 18.1 (kernel 4.10.0-19) does not have any problems with the Asus PCE-AC51 wlan card. The card was already in use with a couple of kernel updates.

Once again NO PROBLEMS !!!

[SCHISCHKA]

Just now, GreenZombie said:

Linux Mint 18.1 (kernel 4.10.0-19) does not have any problems with the Asus PCE-AC51 wlan card. The card was already in use with a couple of kernel updates.

Once again NO PROBLEMS !!!

Doesnt Mint have closed source repos enabled by default? Im looking for a card that has drivers in the kernel. i.e. works with a proper server OS without enabling drivers that have potential to break operation like the ath9k that I am use to using. I just don't see that in the debian or arch wikis. That is the point of my post that I seem to have failed to communicate.

[ARikozuM]

You won't know until you try the product, to be honest. Make a full backup of the OS before you try the product. If everything runs well, you're in the clear. If not, just revert and return the card.

[Wild Penquin]

It seems quite a lot of devices use proprietary firmware. Seems this is a good summary (not sure how much of this is up-to-date/out-of-date): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open-source_wireless_drivers

 

However, I wouldn't worry about using proprietary firmware too much - unless you have an ideological reason to use more open hardware. Generally the drivers with closed firmware work quite well. But avoid those which do not have a driver in Mainline kernel at all!

[SCHISCHKA]

6 hours ago, Wild Penquin said:

It seems quite a lot of devices use proprietary firmware. Seems this is a good summary (not sure how much of this is up-to-date/out-of-date): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open-source_wireless_drivers

 

However, I wouldn't worry about using proprietary firmware too much - unless you have an ideological reason to use more open hardware. Generally the drivers with closed firmware work quite well. But avoid those which do not have a driver in Mainline kernel at all!

I have been using that chart. What iv done is quite laborious. I go to pbtech.co.nz which is a site that reflects what is available in NZ, then i go to the OEM website, download the driver to see what it uses, then go to wikipedia and debian wiki to see if its in the kernel. I just cant find anything ac speed.

I dont want proprietary because drivers in the kernel are so much easier, I can install any linux and it will work, i think its quite important for NICs because its a bit of a catch 22 needing the internet to get a NIC working. I have had laptops in the past that use proprietary broadcom and it just takes up time getting it working.

Iv been using the ath9k chipset for a while, its fully featured so im looking for something equivalent in PCIe and ac speed. I should prob go ask on the level1 forum.

[Wild Penquin]

Ok, now I understand why you need a really open driver.

 

It may be possible some other forum with more similar user base may be more helpful.

 

(EDIT: now that I re-read your comment, I still think you may be confusing closed-firmware open-source driver with closed-source only driver. The latter can be a PITA to install, the former should "just work" as long as the firmware is downloaded, which usually exists on most Linux installation medias, and as such does not need to be download - and if it does not exist on the media, only a single binary blob is usually required to be copied somehow off-line. Drivers needing proprietary firmware drivers which are in the mainline Kernel equals downloading the firmware, usually into /usr/lib/firmware, which can be done trough most distributions package manager. After this the driver will work as any open-source driver from users perspective; i.e. there should be no reason it would break at a kernel upgrade etc. Downloading the firmware may be a bit more license-encumbering, however (i.e. not strictly GPL/FOSS).