# Anyone using linux with a Linksys USB NIC? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261 "2001-12-01T04:32:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/1 "2001-12-01T04:32:04Z")
I’m trying to get my cable modem set up with Linux (Slackware 8.0) but I’m having trouble figuring out how to do it since I have a Linksys USB NIC (Which seems to be rather unpopular because I can hardly find any documentation on it, much less on using it with Linux.) Has anyone ever set this up? Got any ideas? Thanks. [sub]Note to mods: I put this here instead of GQ because it’s likely to end up in a big long discussion rather than just a simple answer. If you feel like I put it in the wrong place please move it.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2001, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/2 "2001-12-01T05:04:33Z")
First, is it a usb _nic_ or a usb _hub_? I’ve never heard of a usb nic as nics are usually pci (inside of your pc) In case you might be confused, nic stands for (I think) network inteface card. USB is still rather primitive in Linux but it’s making a great deal of progress. The first thing to do would be to look at [http://www.linuxdoc.org](http://www.linuxdoc.org). There you can find information about almost anything, old and new. There you should be able to find information about your particular piece of hardware. If you can’t find it there you can always try google. My personal advice would be to try to recompile the kernel with usb support. Look at the Kernel-HOWTO on [linuxdoc.org](http://linuxdoc.org) for doing that. You might want to look at the USB-HOWTO as well to make sure you put the right modules/drivers. Also, I don’t know if you have any knowledge with linux but if not then you might want to consider another distribution than slackware. Although if you’re into learning it’ll probably teach you a great deal – the hard way, mind you. The best distros IMHO are Debian and Mandrake. **mnemosyne** says : Yep, I’m dating a geek 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2001, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/3 "2001-12-01T05:11:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mnemosyne \* > \*\*First, is it a usb _nic_ or a usb _hub_? I’ve never heard of a usb nic as nics are usually pci (inside of your pc) In case you might be confused, nic stands for (I think) network inteface card. > \*\* It’s a USB _NIC_. > [@](#): > > My personal advice would be to try to recompile the kernel with usb support. Already did that. > [@](#): > > There you should be able to find information about your particular piece of hardware. If you can’t find it there you can always try google. I’ll keep looking but I haven’t had any luck yet, that’s why I came here 😉 Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2001, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/4 "2001-12-01T10:10:05Z")
I swear to god I think I’m the only person on the planet with a USB NIC. Even people I know with the same cable provider got internal cards. GRRRRRRRRRRRR. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/5 "2001-12-01T21:31:51Z")
Sorry he wasn’t any more help. But if you ARE the only person on the planet with a USB NIC, then maybe you should consider getting the other kind 🙂 jk. I’m sure there must be some info out there, but he just typed what he thought would help based on what he understood of the question(believe me, I myself cannot help you). I guess he might have seemed a little condesending, it wasn’t intentional. English isn’t his first language. Again, sorry we couldn’t help, and Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2001, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/6 "2001-12-01T21:32:12Z")
Just gonna _cough_[sub]bump[/sub]_cough_ this before i go to work. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/7 "2001-12-02T13:41:47Z")
Man I’m sorry to keep bumping this, I promise I’ll stop if you guys want me to. I’m just really having alot of trouble with this and I thought alot more people on the boards used Linux. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/8 "2001-12-02T15:17:59Z")
Well, I use Linux quite a bit (It’s my primary OS except for games), but I don’t use any USB accessories, so my USB expertise is pretty lacking. I wish I could be more help to you. Sorry… ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/9 "2001-12-02T18:15:10Z")
[here](http://www.wondernetworkresources.com/staff/shuu/linux/usbmgr/) [more](http://www.linuxhq.com/kernel/v2.2/patch/pre-patch-2.2.20-9/linux.20p9_drivers_usb_pegasus.h.html) big trouble.linux no like. get PCI ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-using-linux-with-a-linksys-usb-nic/96261/10 "2001-12-02T18:20:45Z")
Just get a cheapo PCI or ISA NIC from ebay or something. I got an ISA one for $5 that worked fine in Linux.