TP-Link WN620G

http://www.wireless-driver.com/tp-link-tl-wn322g-wireless-drivers-download/
Atheros 5523a-100
usb 2.0  "windows 7" wireless network adapter ar5523 driver
http://www.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=1276228
http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/?model=TL-WN620G&version=V1
http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/45572-making-smcwusbt-g-wireless-adapter-work-windows-7-a.html
In case you have SMCWUSBT-G, this post may help in making it work with Windows 7.
I had major problems getting this work with Windows 7 (the manufacturer is not helpful despite requests for windows 7 drivers). But you can get it work with the drivers meant for previous windows versions.
1. Download the software/driver (SMCWUSBT-G_V1.11.000.ZIP) from http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?event=viewProduct&cid=5&scid=31&localeCode=EN%5FUSA&pid=1467 
2. Unzip & Install the software. We are only interested in two files from this installation.
Of course it may never work - You may be prompted to insert the adpater, but it may not recognise it & entire installation may even get cancelled. If you have problems, try the vista or xp compatibility option (Right click -> Properties -> Compatibility). 
As a last resort, if you have an XP machine/partition, install there (you can make use of the working SMCWUSBT-G installation if you have one on that machine/partition). 
3. Copy the two files ar5523.sys & ar5523.bin (from C:\Program Files\SMCWUSBT-G*) to a temp. directory, let us say, C:\Temp
4. Go to Device Manager & update the driver for AR5523 letting windows search for the drivers in C:\Temp (overriding any warnings). Windows 7 will install the drivers & it may be able to connect to the wireless networks. If not see 5.
You may uninstall the software installed in 2, if you managed to do so. It is not required.
5. I had varying success with the windows 7 bits - Beta/RC/RTM. While the above steps worked on Beta/RC bits, it did not work on the RTM bits. It turned out that I had to make a change on my SMCWBR14T-G router as well for the RTM bits to work - I had Super G-Static Turbo mode (proprietory I guess) enabled on the wireless router earlier - turned this off & enabled 802.11g. It started working & hopefully stays that way!
ENUWI-SG_VISTA.zip (713.8 KB)
http://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/10892-tp-link-tl-wn620g-wireless-card-issue.html
problem with TL-WN620G card and Windows 7 releases 7000, 7100 & 7127. The drivers would install fine, however, Win 7 was unable to connect to the internet without me setting up my wireless connection.
After a reboot Win 7 would not connect unless I either reconnected the card or set the network connection up again. I have now resolved the issue by using the Atheros AR5005-UG drivers.
http://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/19808-losing-internet-resume-sleep.html
Version1:  Atheros ZD1211B USB 
Prueba con este de la marca canyon, pero lleva chipset zd1211 y vale para windows 7 32bits y 64bits:
http://www1.canyon-tech.com/files/Canyon/Networking/WiFi_E/CN-WF518/CN-WF518_Drv_W2KWV3264W73264.zip
chipset zydas ZD1211B , aka Atheros AR5007UG (dale a download y espera 10s) (hay que forzar la instalacion del driver, desde administrador de dispositivos)
http://www.atheros.cz/atheros-wireless-download.php?chipset=24&system=4
=======
http://www.softitem.com/Drivers/detail-download-hp-atheros-wireless-lan-driver-3-00-reva-10351557.html
===================
http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/support/security
http://more.dlink.de/sicherheit/

Installing correctly the WLAN in linux HP machines

http://askubuntu.com/questions/225297/wireless-not-working-hp-probook-4540s
Managed to run it on the terminal but the following message appears:
W: Duplicate sources.list entry http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable/main i386 Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/dl.google.com_linux_chrome_deb_dists_stable_main_binary-i386_Packages)
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems
I run sudo apt-get update, but the same message remains. It is not possible to continue as the following text appears:
sudo make && sudo make install && sudo make clean
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found.  Stop.
What can I do?
==================
payorivero
Please, download this, and put it into your "Downloads" folder in ubuntu:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19624249/Driver.tar
That is the driver for your network card, and i am now going to show you how to install it. This file was downloaded from a bigger package on the internet. Download on own risk.
Extract all the files in the archive into a folder named "Driver" in your "Downloads".
Now, open a terminal by prssing Ctrl+Alt+T, and type:
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential dkms
cd Downloads/Driver
Now, to install it:
sudo make && sudo make install && sudo make clean
Then, when it finish:
Blacklist the built-in driver, and load the new one with:
echo "blacklist rt2800pci" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rt2800pci.conf
sudo modprobe -rfv rt2800pci
sudo modprobe -v rt3259sta
And reboot, and it should work!

WU61R (AWN-USB-54R) = RTL8187B

http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=1&Level=6&Conn=5&ProdID=143
Wireless LAN USB 2.0 Network Interface Controller
General Description
The Realtek RTL8187B is a low-profile highly integrated cost-effective Wireless LAN USB 2.0 network interface controller that integrates a USB 2.0 PHY, SIE (Serial Interface Engine), 8051 MCU, a Wireless LAN MAC, and a Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum/OFDM baseband processor onto one chip. It provides USB high speed (480Mbps), and full speed (12Mbps), and supports 9 endpoints for transfer pipes. To reduce protocol overhead, the RTL8187B supports Short InterFrame Space (SIFS) burst mode to send packets back-to-back. A protection mechanism prevents collisions among 802.11b nodes. The RTL8187B fully complies with IEEE 802.11a/b/g, WMM, 802.11e, and CCX specifications.
To reduce protocol overhead, the RTL8187B supports Short InterFrame Space (SIFS) burst mode to send packets back-to-back. A protection mechanism prevents collisions among 802.11b nodes.
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS), Complementary Code Keying (CCK), and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) baseband processing are implemented to support all IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g data rates. Differential phase shift keying modulation schemes, DBPSK and DQPSK with data scrambling capability, are available, along with complementary code keying to provide data rates of 1, 2, 5.5, and 11Mbps, with long or short preamble. A high-speed Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)/Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), combined with BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM modulation of the individual sub-carriers, provides data rates of 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48 and 54Mbps, with rate-compatible punctured convolutional coding with a coding rate of 1/2, 2/3, and 3/4.
An enhanced signal detector, an adaptive frequency domain equalizer, and a soft-decision Viterbi decoder are built-in to alleviate severe multipath effects. Efficient IQ-imbalance calibration, DC offset, phase noise, frequency offset, and timing offset compensation reduce radio frequency front-end impairments. Selectable digital transmit and receiver FIR filters are provided to meet the requirements of transmit spectrum masks, and to reject adjacent channel interference, respectively. Both in the transmitter and receiver, programmable scaling in the digital domain trades the quantization noise against the increased probability of clipping. Robust signal detection, symbol boundary detection, and channel estimation perform well at the minimum sensitivity.

The RTL8187B supports fast receiver Automatic Gain Control (AGC) and antenna diversity functions, and an adaptive transmit power control function to obtain better performance in the analog portions of the transceiver. It also has on-chip digital-to-analog converters and analog-to-digital converters for analog I and Q inputs and outputs, transmit TSSI and receiver RSSI inputs, and transmit and receiver AGC outputs.
The RTL8187B keeps network maintenance costs low and eliminates usage barriers. The RTL8187B is highly integrated and requires no ‘glue’ logic or external memory.
Features

Drivers http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=1&Level=6&Conn=5&ProdID=143&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true
Windows

Description Version Update Time File Size UI and Driver auto install package(Support XP/Vista/Vin7)(Beta) 1182(Beta) 2011/2/23 25694k UI and Driver auto install package(Support XP/Vista/Win7) 1181 2011/2/8 16809k

Others

WiGig

Source (Excerpts)

A standard in the making
802.11ad, although not a final standard, is on its way to becoming one at the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), which for decades has hammered out new network technologies. By using the abundance of uncluttered spectrum in the high-frequency 60GHz range, 802.11ad will be able to transmit data much faster than today's 802.11n technology that uses 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
It wasn't easy getting to today's wireless networking technology, though. With 802.11g, Broadcom dominated the market for chips, Grodzinsky said, a situation that didn't please competitors. Its sequel, 802.11n, was bogged down as those competitors jockeyed over the standard, which took seven years to complete.
"This time, we learned from 11g and 11n," he said, and backers such as Broadcom, Qualcomm Atheros, Intel, Microsoft, Marvel, Cisco, Samsung and Wilocity have joined a consortium called the WiGig Alliance to cooperate. Now IEEE is working on the standard and has made more progress at this point on 802.11ad than it had at this stage of 802.11n's lifetime.

"All the silicon vendors have gotten together," Grodzinsky said, and they've progressed enough that in October they held a "plugfest" to make sure their chips could work together. "Hopefully because [WiGig addressed interoperability] early, we'll skip the hiccups and go straight to volume."
802.11ad also piggybacks on existing efforts such as the Wi-Fi Alliance's Wi-Fi Direct technology, which lets 802.11 devices--say, a camera and a smartphone--connect without relying on a home network.
How fast is it?
The technology is designed to reach speeds of 7 gigabits per second, though Wilocity's first chips reach just 4Gbps. That compares to a theoretical 802.11n maximum of 600Mbps, but in practice even high-end 802.11n consumer products only reach half of that.
The 802.11ad technology uses directional communications. Instead of bathing a room or a house in a wireless signal, 802.11ad technology sets up specific channels between devices' antennas. That minimizes interference.
Grodzinsky also argues that 802.11ad will have power consumption advantages. Unlike with 802.11n, for example, dialing down the 802.11ad data transfer speed by half will cut power consumption by more than half.
But there's no free lunch: 802.11ad works only over short distances. For practical purposes, that means within a room.
That distance limitation means 802.11ad is a lousy replacement for existing standards such as 802.11g, 802.11n, and the forthcoming 802.11ac, all of which can generally reach throughout a house. But that doesn't mean that 802.11ad is useless.
What's it good for?
There are two ways that Wilocity and its allies in the WiGig Alliance developing 802.11ad hope the technology will be useful.
First, 802.11ad will be paired with lower-frequency wireless networks, so devices that are close together can use the high-speed connections, Grodzinsky said, and devices can switch from one to the other behind the scenes without interrupting people's network use.
That's pretty important, since it offers a speed boost in some cases but a safe fallback otherwise. In other words, this scenario extends existing wireless network technology; customers paying a premium over 802.11n devices would be betting on its utility but not replacing more conventional wireless networking.
"We're not saying 60GHz will replace the home network. You'll still have 802.11n for the home network. 60GHz will be in-room or adjacent-room technology," Grodzinsky said. In Wilocity's case the 802.11n link is provided through a partnership with Qualcomm Atheros technology; Grodzinsky sees a natural evolution to 802.11ac as that technology matures as an 802.11ad partner.
Second--and this is the more dramatic idea when it comes to its utility--802.11ad adherents hope the technology will rid the world of some cables. Wilocity's data-transfer 4Gbps speeds is fast enough to transmit video and has low enough communication delays that it can be used for interactive tasks.
So, for example, a business traveler could bring his laptop back into the office and start using it with a large monitor, an external keyboard, and a mouse. Or a student could bring her laptop back to the dorm and it would automatically start backing up her data to a local hard drive. A tablet could transform into a device with a physical keyboard and mouse--and rapidly sync new video, photos, and music with a PC with no cable.

Low-cost 100 yard WiFi LAN

Source

I work about 100 yards from where I live, and I wanted to keep from paying for another internet connection if possible. I used stock Linksys WRT-54G wifi routers, loaded them with OpenWRT, and built two waveguide antennae.

I followed a procedure very close to the Cantenna HOWTO page, except that I used 4-inch black drain pipe from the hardware store ($10 for 10 feet) to make several. This pipe is almost exactly the optimal size for 2.4 Ghz, and it works like a charm. The only difficulty is that since a waveguide antenna needs to be metal, I had to line the inside of the pipe with aluminum foil.

It all works nicely, and I have had a consistent 1-2 Mbit connection for the last two years.

For the mounting hardware, I used electrical conduit from the hardware store. The antenna attached to the tree is attached using a switchplate. The router is housed in an upside-down plastic can spray-painted brown. If you're not looking for it, you'll never see it.

The large gray antenna is a 18-db store-bought omni-directional antenna that I'm not currently using. My homemade antennae work much better for a point-to-point link. Also, the power supply in the second photo is dangling down after maintenance, it is normally tucked into the can.

I tested my setup with and without the antennae, and saw about a 20 dB signal strength increase due to the antennae. That's not great, but the noise rejection is what's really important for a short distance like this. Because of the noise rejection I get a very reliable connection, even good enough for VoIP.

Connectify - Virtual Router

Alternativen für Intel My Wifi oder Connectify

PC als Wlan-Router
Virtual Router

 

Mit dem Open-Source-Tool "Virtual Router" machen Sie aus jedem Windows-Rechner mit Windows 7 oder Windows Server 2008 einen WLAN-Hotspot.
  Schaffen Sie sich ein eigenes WiFi-Netz, ohne einen WLAN-Router in Betrieb zu haben. Mit der Freeware "Virtual Router" kein Problem, zumindest wenn Sie einen Rechner mit Windows 7 (Home Premium und höher) oder Windows Server 2008 nutzen.
Das Open-Source-Programm wandelt Ihren Windows-PC in einen virtuellen WLAN-Router, mit dem Sie andere Geräte (etwa Computer, Handys oder Spielekonsolen) kabellos mit dem Internet verbinden können.
"Virtual Router" verschlüsselt die WLAN-Verbindung per WPA2, so dass Ihre übermittelten Daten sicher sind. Sie können Ihrem WLAN-Hotspot einen beliebigen Namen und ein maximal achtstelliges Passwort verpassen.

Fazit: Ungemein praktisch, so ein virtueller WLAN-Router---------------
Source
Virtual Router is a free, open source software based router for PCs running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Using Virtual Router, users can wirelessly share any internet connection (Wifi, LAN, Cable Modem, Dial-up, Cellular, etc.) with any Wifi device (Laptop, Smart Phone, iPod Touch, iPhone, Android Phone, Zune, Netbook, wireless printer, etc.) These devices connect to Virtual Router just like any other access point, and the connection is completely secured using WPA2 (the most secure wireless encryption.)
The Wireless Network create/shared with Virtual Router uses WPA2 Encryption, and there is not way to turn off that encryption. This is actually a feature of the Wireless Hosted Network API's built into Windows 7 and 2008 R2 to ensure the best security possible.
You can give your "virtual" wireless network any name you want, and also set the password to anything. Just make sure the password is at least 8 characters.
BTW, this project is written entirely in C#.
Supported Devices
.=========================== Connectify

 

Die Freeware Connectify verwandelt jeden Windows-7-Rechner in einen WLAN-Router.  Fotostrecke: Die coolsten Tools fürs WLAN

Wäre es nicht praktisch, im Hotelzimmer ein kleines WLAN-Netz aufzusetzen, um den Kollegen im Nachbarzimmer mit Internet zu versorgen? Oder zuhause das Handy ohne teure Datentarife auf den neusten Stand zu bringen? Wie wäre es mit mehr Reichweite für Ihr heimisches WLAN-Netzwerk, indem Sie Ihr Notebook in einen WLAN-Repeater verwandeln und so auch bequem im Garten surfen können?
Das alles können Sie schon etwas länger haben, wenn ihr Notebook mit einer der beiden Intel-WLAN-Chipsätzen WiFi Link 5100 oder Intel WiFi Link 5300 ausgestattet ist. (Zum Artikel: So wird das Notebook zum Access Point) Dass es auch ohne teure Hardware geht, beweist das Gratis-Tool Connectify, das Windows 7 in eine Art Software-WLAN-Router verwandelt.
Connectify verschlüsselt die WLAN-Verbindung per WPA2, so dass Ihre übermittelten Daten sicher sind.
Fazit: Connectify verbindet sich automatisch mit einer aktiven Internet-Verbindung und ist mit deutlich mehr Hardware-Komponenten kompatibel. Eine ebenso kostenlos erhältliche Alternative ist das Tool Virtual Router.

Fotostrecke: Die coolsten Tools fürs WLAN

forum.chip.de/drahtlos-netzwerke/-connectify-wlan-verzweiflung

Virtual WiFi

Quelle
Virtual Wifi ist ein kompaktes Tool, welches unter Windows 7 das virtuelle Netzwerk aktivieren kann.
Dieses Netzwerk ist eine Entwicklung von Microsoft die schon seit mehrern Jahren läuft. Nun ist sie mit der Fertigstellung des neuen Betriebssystems in Windows 7 eingeflossen. Allerdings hat Microsoft diese Funktion sehr gut hinter der Kommandozeile versteckt, ein simnpler Zugriff ist nicht möglich.
Dies ändert sich durch dieses Tool grundlegend. Es kann:

• das virtuelle Netzwerk für die erste Verwendung vorbereiten
• es starten und beenden
• Netzwerkname, sowie das Passwort ändern
• und auch das Netzwerk wieder deaktivieren

Um die Verwendung zu vereinfachen, ist auch ein kleiner Assistent enthalten, der bei der Einrichtung hilft.

Virtual Wifi integriert sich perfekte in die neuen Steuerelemente von Windows 7.
So gibt es eine Reihe Features, die das bedienen erleichtern:

• Jumplist zum vereinfachten Zufriff auf die Funktionen
• Thumbnailbuttons um schnellen Zugriff zu gewährleisten
• Taskbariconoverlay zeigt den Status des Programms

Source

 

Die kostenlose Software ermöglicht den Zugriff auf mehrere W-LANs mit nur einem Adapter.
  Mit der Freeware aus dem Hause Micrsoft können Sie mit einer einzigen W-LAN-Karte auf mehrere Netzwerke gleichzeitig zugreifen.
===============
Quelle
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) erfreuen sich steigender Popularität. Fast jeder, den ich kenne, hat zu Hause einen WLAN-Router stehen und nutzt die Freiheit, mit dem Laptop auch auf dem Balkon im Internet surfen zu können.
Ein WLAN kann dabei in zwei unterschiedlichen Modi betrieben werden: Mobile Geräte wie beispielsweise Notebooks können entweder direkt untereinander oder mit einem gemeinsamen Zugriffsknoten verbunden werden. Im ersten Fall spricht man von einem Adhoc-Netzwerk. Diese Variante sieht man aber recht selten, da darüber nur gemeinsam Daten ausgetauscht werden können und kein Internetzugriff hergestellt werden kann.
Die zweite Variante mit einem gemeinsamen Zugriffsknoten nennt sich Infrastruktur-Netz. Sie wird am häufigsten in Verbindung mit einem drahtlosen Router eingesetzt, der die Verbindung zum Internet (beispielsweise über DSL) allen angeschlossen Clients gemeinsam zur Verfügung stellt.
Bisher ist es so, dass eine drahtlose Netzwerkschnittstelle unter Windows nur in einem Modus betrieben werden kann. Entweder Adhoc- oder Infrastruktur-Netz. Weiterhin kann man mit nur einem drahtlosen Netzwerk pro WLAN-Karte zur gleichen Zeit verbunden sein. Bis Windows Vista sah die WiFi-Architektur so aus:

Seit 2002 arbeitete Microsoft Research unter dem Codenamen MultiNet an einer Virtualisierung der WiFi-Architektur. Die Ergebnisse wurden als Projekt VirtualWiFi der Öffentlichkeit vorgestellt und in mehreren Projekten eingesetzt:

• Architecture and Techniques for Diagnosing Faults in IEEE 802.11 Infrastructure Networks
• SSCH: Slotted Seeded Channel Hopping for Capacity Improvement in IEEE 802.11 Ad-Hoc Wireless Networks
• WiFiProfiler: Cooperative Diagnosis in Wireless LANs
• Mesh Networking
• NetHealth

Entwickelt für Windows XP wurde es bisher über 100.000 mal heruntergeladen und an mehr als 400 Universitäten als Bestandteil des Mesh Academic Resource Toolkits weltweit verteilt.
VirtualWiFi abstrahiert eine WLAN-Karte, so dass sie als virtueller Netzwerkadapter mehrfach im System erscheint. Jede virtuelle Karte kann dann vom Anwender separat konfiguriert werden und erlaubt damit die Verbindung zu unterschiedlichen drahtlosen Netzwerken zur gleichen Zeit über nur einen physikalischen Netzwerkadapter.
Wofür kann man das nun gebrauchen? Zum Beispiel kann man gleichzeitig mehrere Rechner drahtlos vernetzen, um darüber spielen zu können und gleichzeitig einen der Rechner mit einem (kostenpflichtigen) Hotspot verbinden, über den dann alle Clients sich den Zugang teilen. Ein anderes Beispiel ist die Heimvernetzung, wenn das Funksignal des WiFi Access Points nicht bis in alle Ecken des Hauses reicht. Mit VirtualWiFi kann ein Computer nun gleichzeitig auch als Repeater arbeiten und die Funkabdeckung erhöhen.
In Windows 7 griff Microsoft diese Technologie auf und baute sie direkt in das Betriebssystem ein. Im ersten Schritt wurde dafür die generelle WiFi-Architektur verändert, um die Virtual WiFi Infrastruktur zu integrieren:

Im nächsten Schritt kamen dann alle notwendigen Funktionen hinzu, um einen Software Access Point (SoftAP) abbilden zu können. Den größten Teil deckt dabei Microsoft ab. Die Hersteller müssen lediglich in ihren Netzwerktreibern SoftAP unterstützen. Zur weitreichenden Untertützung der neuen Technologie wurde die Unterstützung von SoftAP als Bedingung für die Erfüllung des Windows 7 Logotests für die Treiber drahtloser Netzwerkkarten gemacht:

In Windows 7 kann Virtual WiFi eine physikalische WLAN-Karte um eine zweite virtuelle Karte erweitern. Wir nennen das neue Feature Wireless Hosted Network – auf Deutsch gehostetes Netzwerk. In der MSDN finden Hersteller eine Dokumentation zur Implementierung von Virtual WiFi in einen 802.11 Miniport-Treiber:

• Virtual WiFi Initialization
• Supported Virtualization Configurations
• Virtual WiFi Implementation Guidelines

Die grundlegende Einrichtung, das Netzwerk und der Betrieb werden dabei über die folgende Funktionen gesteuert:
MORE

WLAN-Hacking en passant

Source
WepAttack führt Wörterbuchattacken aus
Dominik Blunk, Dr. Andreas Steffen - 30.06.2003

Dass sich die WEP-Verschlüsselung von Funknetzen knacken lässt, wenn man den Verkehr ein paar Stunden oder Tage belauschen kann, ist längst bekannt. Kaum ein Funknetz-Betreiber rechnet jedoch damit, dass oft schon ein einziges, im Vorbeigehen aufgeschnapptes Paket genügt, um den WEP-Schlüssel zu knacken.

Die Studenten Dominik Blunk und Alain Girardet haben im Rahmen ihrer Diplomarbeit [1] an der Züricher Hochschule Winterthur (ZHW) das Tool WepAttack entwickelt. Das Programm realisiert eine Wörterbuchattacke gegen WEP-Schlüssel, die Tim Newsham im Jahr 2001 theoretisch beschrieben hat [2]. WepAttack läuft unter Linux und kann im Quelltext von sourceforge.net runtergeladen werden [3].

NDISwrapper for USB wireless adapter

Source
You can't use Vista drivers with NDISwrapper. WinXP drivers only.

Once ndiswrapper has been configured (it really should be a last resort), it has a nasty tendency of taking over. We will have to edit some config files to make this permanant.

First we remove the ndiswrapper configuration:

sudo ndiswrapper -e netr73

(if error, try sudo ndiswrapper -r netr73)

Then we can remove ndiswrapper all together, it's only in the way.

sudo apt-get remove ndiswrapper-common

Then comes the (maybe) hard part. We have probably lost the ability to hotplug this stick. Either you can keep doing this setup manually (sudo modprobe rt73usb) every time you want to plug the card in (and you have to do the sudo modprobe -r rt73usb every time before removing it, and make sure there are no errors), or you can place rt73usb in the /etc/modules file, which will require you to keep the stick plugged in from boot to shutdown (premature removal in either case could do anything from confuse networking to lock the system solid), or we can go through the trouble of finding what udev or other files ndiswapper messed with so we can undo the damage and possibly get hotplugging back (this can be drawn out).

-----------------------

...You could also try reinstalling gnome-applets, no guarantee.
Back to problem at hand, if you don't mind having to keep the adapter plugged in all the time, we should be able to do this the easy way, no manual intervention. The network stick will need to be plugged in from power on to shutdown to maintain system stability.*
Do this, only once, and there is no feedback when done right.
sudo echo rt73usb >> /etc/modules
The next time you boot, the module should automatically be loaded.
*It actually not a big deal if the card is not plugged in at boot, the module will either load in the background or fail to load for missing hardware. You'd find out which when you plug the stick in. However, once the card is active, network stacks build on top of it, so don't remove it.

======================
I got around it by actually getting a root prompt with this command:

sudo -i

And yes, this gives a root prompt in Ubuntu, a system without root!

BackTrack Linux

Netstumbler is out!
BackTrack Linux - Penetration Testing Distribution
Back|Track LiveCD Blog

Download the ISO of the Linux liveCD, burn it or use in a startable USB flash memory and try running it on your laptop and see if your usb wireless adapter works with these killer applications.
You can be able to crack your own router with a very strong WEP key after capturing about 50,000 IPV4 packets. 
It is possible to crack a weak WEP key on a router in less than 3 minutes

Secure networking

Not from me, Source lost!
Any SW (Antivirus, Firewall, AntiMalware/Spywar, etc) is only good if kept up to date and correctly configured and Ports tested.
Try running your normal 'YourName' account with minimal permissions - if you can't install SW without increasing your permissions then neither can most malware Use safe passwords, long passwords are never easy to remember but at least use a mixture of upper and lower case and if possible symbols with numbers.
To secure your PC the best method is to do this from your 'YourName' account.
Rename your Admin account in windows to something like "FirmaAdmin" (only use this account when needed)

1. Create a new user (limited) account and name it 'NormalUser' (it is not an Administrator with rights!)
   
2. In the run box type secpol.msc
3. Go into password policies and then into Account lockout policy and set the duration to at least 30 mins and the account lockout threshold to 1 invalid attempt.
4. Go into local policies and then audit policy, choose audit account login events and set it to either sucess or failure
5. Restart the pc and to check the logs go into computer management event viewer and security, If you see an 'evil hacker person' entry then your system has been compromised.

Use SSL logins always.Use ssl logins in all case's possible like email login or website logins.
DO NOT use Internet Explorer 6!
Most importantly be very careful what you say to people on the internet. Social engineering is often how people guess your password. They do this by finding out your hobbies and interests in what seem to be innocent convos - what might seem like telling a new friend about your stamp collection could be dangerous when your password is 'password' .
Also store all personal items on external drives, that way you can turn them on only when you need them, or alternatively save them to re-writable media.

Wireless networks are NOT secure - even hiding SSID, enabling MAC address filtering and using WPA is not sufficient for a determined hacker. If security is an issue either use copper cable or VPN / encryption.
If you have no reason to use a WiFi connection, disable that option in the router or the laptop.

Do not broadcast your SSID. If the casual hacker does not see your signal, they will not (typically) try to hack your wifi network.

Use at least two different forms of authentication with your WiFi router.

• MAC Filtering (WiFi and ethernet connections)
• WEP Keys -- 128-bit or better!
  
• WPA/WPA-PSK

Be Paranoid (as first response to anything new) - when an app / java script proves OK then trust it, but not before.
Keep your software and firmware up to date.

Other references:
RFC 1281 Guidelines for the Secure Operation of the Internet
RFC 2196 Site Security Handbook
RFC 2828 Internet Security Glossary