There are so many wireless cards that need special configurations and setups that it would be difficult and pointless to try to cover all of them here. Unfortunately, the state of wireless on Linux means that sometimes the best place to start for finding instructions for your particular wireless card - if Fedora doesn't get your card working out of the box - is to search Google's Linux search. For more information on wireless on Linux, see below for off-site resources.
Please note that as of 2021, this page is relatively out of date and the state of wireless on Linux has gotten much better, however it still doesn't always work. Unfortunately, I don't care enough to update this page, so you will have to find help on your own.
Broadcom 4300 Series[]
The main one that seems to give the most trouble it the Broadcom 4300 series (Dell seems to love these) For other Wireless cards please see if there is a listing for it here.
Needed to begin[]
Download the this file and place into you home directory. Alternatively could run the following command.
# wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2
In a graphical environment right click the file and select the extract here option. In a terminal this command can be used.
# tar -jxvf broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2
Installing[]
We need to install the fwcutter program. It is in the repositories to yum or yumex will work.
Sorry, the only way to do this is in a terminal. However if the following commands are followed everything should work. First we need to get into the correct directory.
# cd broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0/kmod
Now we need to extract the firmware from the files with this command.
# /usr/bin/b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware wl_apsta.o
The next step is to set it as a module to load into the kernel with this command.
# echo "alias wlan0 b43" >> /etc/modprobe.conf
Now to restart the network service.
# service network restart
Configuring Network[]
Open the system-config-network program. Click on New. Select wireless Connection and click Forward. Select the Broadcom card and click forward. Fill out the rest of the information as requested. Once you have finished the Wizard then Select the Wireless connection and click edit. Check the box that reads Activate device when computer starts. Click OK. Now activate the new connection and test.
ndiswrapper[]
ndiswrapper is a Linux kernel module for "wrapping" around Windows-native drivers. For the layman, it's a program that allows you to use Windows drivers while "tricking" Linux into thinking it's using drivers programmed for Linux. It may be a suboptimal solution if there is native support for your card, but in some cases ndiswrapper may be the only way to get your wireless card working.
Links and off-site resources[]
- The full how to on Fedora Forums
- FedoraForum.org - many discussions for chipset-specific configuration can be found here
- LinuxWireless.org
- "Linux Wireless Networking" at LinuxHomeNetworking.com
- including ndiswrapper
- Linux on Laptops
- Guides and Howtos at FedoraForum.org