I recently ran afoul of the problem of connecting some types of Linux installations to wifi via USB adapters. After working my way into the maze of useless information on this subject, which appears to be intended to overwhelm us (the obviously-desired information, such as a list of adapters whose drivers are built into the Linux kernel, and to which manufacturers could add their devices for fairness, is nowhere to be found), it occurred to me that it might be possible to find an Ethernet-to-wifi adapter, and use the Ethernet port to get to the point where I could use a USB port.
It turns out that such things exist, and I got one by an outfit named Vonets (vonets.com) from Amazon for $20. Setting it up is easy - just connect the device to your PC (Ethernet port, and a USB port for power), and it will find any wifi hotspots in the area. To connect, you just open a web-browser, enter a certain address (192.168.254.254 for the typical Vonets device), enter the default user ID and password (admin in both cases) and then select one of the hotspots which the adapter found, and enter its password. After doing this once, it's ready to go from then on - just hook it up and wait a bit.
