Im evaluating Ubuntu and Knoppix booting from an image CD with my desktop PC. Everything works fine but I cannot connect to the web with my wireless D-Link DWL510 wireless card. I've read the Linux forum info but still cant connect. Id really like to dump WIN XP and use Linux exclusively but I need to get that Internet connection. Can anyone tell me which of these two distros is better suited to connect over my WiFi network and is there any step by step diagnostic or trouble shooting process that I can read and follow? From what I can tell the DWL510 is recognized and has a driver from each distro working. My ISP provides a dynamic DSL PPOE connection. Thanks for your help!

Knoppix is great but it does not compare to Ubuntu as an installed (to HD) system. Knoppix is a handy tool but the default security configurations and lack of patching mean its more of a niche product.

Now.. the harder part..

Wireless cards under Linux can be fun. I did a quick search on the ubuntu forum and the only thread I found suggests that NdisWrapper is the way to go with your card.

In simple terms you use the driver designed for windows under Linux through an interface layer (NdisWrapper).

This Thread has a few good bits of info on how to install and might prove usefull.

I hope this helps. I run Ubuntu myself but I'm still wired so I've not played with it myself yet.

The unfortunate part is that many time manufacturers will change the chipsets around and keep the same exact model number, just change the revision number/code. I have seen various forums suggest that rev C includes a RaLink chipset, other revisions seem to be based off of the RealTek 8180, while still other forums claim some revisions use an atheros chipset.

The good news is that all three of these chipsets are fairly-well supported without using NdisWrapper (which should be avoided if possible). How do you know which to use? Use the fact that you can get the card to give you it's PCI device code using the lspci tool.

Use lspci with no options to first identify the bus location of the wifi card (something in the format XX:XX.X, look for a description containing network, wireless, radio, etc.). Once you have the location, call lspci -n to get the PCI vendor and device code (the form is XXXX:XXXX, look for the line starting with your device location as discovered in the previous step, XX:XX.X). These numbers are what you're looking for, plug them into Google and they should tell you exactly what chipset is in your version of the card. After you have that information, simply look up a guide to install the particular kernel module needed for that chipset. Come back if you need additional help.