[TriLUG] Failing at Ubuntu Wireless Adapter Crap Shoot

[Scott Chilcote]

Hi Folks,

I am doing something wrong.  Wrong, I tell you!

I have a system at home that has Ubuntu Karmic installed.  There's no 
reasonably sane way to bring a cat 5 cable to it where it is upstairs, 
and I need to get it networked.

We happen to already have a wireless network, so I thought I'd buy a USB 
wireless network adapter for it and go online.  Ha!  This, of course, is 
the part that's not working.

Since it's Ubuntu, I knew there was a list of compatible devices.  And 
here it is:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported

With this in hand, I started looking up all of the local stores online 
to see what they had in stock.  Intrex, PC Warehouse, Buy it On Demand 
(that place in Cary Town Center), Staples, Office Despot, Office Max, HH 
Gregg, ...  I looked up the brand and model of each WLAN adapter these 
stores had, wrote down the supported version numbers (and bar codes, 
where applicable), and started driving to stores to acquire the objective.

Net result?  Zilch!  Four stores hit so far, and I got nothin'.

That's because in every case, the supported versions are NOT the ones 
they have in the stores.  The versions in the stores are ALWAYS NEWER 
than the ones on the supported versions list!  Or at least different 
versions.  But never the same ones that have been tested and reported, 
because (of course) those are no longer new.  They've been around more 
than three months, and heaven forfend they should still be on any retail 
shelf!

So what do more savvy, knowledgeable Linux users do when they need a 
compatible wireless adapter?  I've already tried the "buy one and wait 
for it to be fully supported" approach, but I'd like something that 
works sooner if possible.

Thanks loads!

Scott C.