Hi...

I see that the wireless option that has been decided on is RealTEK 8187. This adapter is not now supported in OpenBSD nor is it likely to be in the near foreseeable future due to closed specs. The RaLink brand is, however, fully supported and mature in OpenBSD.

I was planning to use this as a home firewall, router, and wireless access point running OpenBSD, but now cannot due to the lack of WiFi support.

Pity. Any chance of getting an option using the RaLink hardware like there is for the FitPC Slim?

Also, what would be the perfect solution for me would be a box with 2 1Gb Ethernet ports AND an RaLink Wifi, but that may be too much to ask?

Should this be in the wishlist part of the forum instead? I can't even look at this until there is a WiFi that is supported by OpenBSD.

Thanks.

fit-PC2 is not using Realtek 8187 (*).
It is using RaLink RT3090.

* There is a special model of fit-PC2 (FITPC2-C1100-WR) that has the realtek installed. All other models use the RT3090.

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately, the RT3090 does me no good either... OpenBSD does not support it at present.

From http://www.openbsd.org/i386.html under "Wireless Ethernet Adapters", it shows that OpenBSD will only run HostAP mode on Ralink RT2500, RT2501, RT2600, RT2700 and RT2800 chipsets (ral driver), Ralink RT2500USB chipset (ural driver), and the Ralink RT2501USB and RT2601USB chipsets (rum driver). While OpenBSD supports USB 2.0 wireless adapters based on the Ralink RT2700U, RT2800U and RT3000U chipsets (run driver), that driver does not support HostAP mode. These RaLink drivers are the wireless drivers that are the most mature, stable and supported under OpenBSD. The Atheros chipsets do not even come close, sadly.

Is it possible to get a wireless adapter that will work under these constraints? Perhaps there is a way to put an older RaLink card in the FitPC2 box that would fit the above specifications. Or, perhaps I can get it without the card and you could direct me to where I could get my own card (I can't find it anywhere with this form factor - MiniPCIe).

Otherwise, this is not a solution for me or others that want to run OpenBSD as their gateway. As I said before: pity, because all else is there for me.

Thanks again for your attention.

You can find Mini-PCIe wireless cards on eBay. As for the FitPC2 without wireless card, you should first check if it has the Mini-PCIe slot at all.

Installing an old Ralink card into the MiniPCIe has 2 serious drawbacks:
1 - it voids warantty. P-l-e-a-s-e don't do it. There is a good chance it will never be the same again..
2 - The power demand of the older generation is higer than the current one. The raise in power consumption will cause excess heat.

I would suggest an extarnal USB/WiFi adapter.

Or better, ask the BSD developers to add this device to the support list..

@irads:

So to confirm: The "fit-PC2 Value WiFi" has the Realtek 8187 chipset (as noted on the availability page, and all others with WiFi use the RaLink RT3090?

Thanks,
Benedikt

Yes.