[wslinux] On Linux and Winmodems

[John White]

Hi Diana,

Hope these comments aren't off-topic, but I note that I use a Netgear 
MA401 card in my pcmcia slot and it works fine. Not too good for range. 
I am told that the Netgear RangeMax wireless WPN511 is better. These 
cards are linux compatible cards and I don't think they need ndiswrapper.

John

Diana Kirk wrote:
> Hi Chris,
>
> On Sunday 08 July 2007 07:34 pm, Kris Squire wrote:
>   
>> Simple  soloution is to use a usb to serial converter
>> Ubuntu comes with the suport software built into the kernel
>> I have been using this very inexpensive aparatus for some time
>> on my laptop as an interface to my 56k hardware modem, and with
>> another conector to my canon printer This enables me to by pass
>> the software modem (usless under linux), and the lack of a
>> parallel port cheers Kris da Kiwi
>>     
>
> Just a note about about software modems and Linux. These days 
> Linux distributions intended for the desktop come with kernels 
> precompiled with support for software modems. So, in fact, if a 
> winmodem is all one has, it will generally be detected at 
> installation and run under Linux. 
>
> OTOH, many people are now using broadband in one form or another 
> and therefore are not utilizing the software modem that was built 
> into their computers. If the Linux distribution detects the 
> broadband connection or a hardware modem, it will typically 
> install a kernel precompiled with support for those, with no 
> support for software modems.
>
> The only problem with Linux would be if you want to use the 
> built-in software modem sometimes and other times use broadband 
> or an external hardware modem on the same system. Kernels tend to 
> be precompiled out of the box for one or the other, but not both.
>
> Obviously, one could compile their own kernel with support for 
> both, but I doubt that most people would want to do that.
>
> Happy trails,
> Diana
>
>