Host AP v0.4.7 driver for Intersil Prism2/2.5/3
for Puppy Linux with kernel 2.4.29 - versions 1.0.4 and 1.0.5
from http://hostap.epitest.fi/
compiled by tempestuous, December 2005.
Not tested.
No guarantees.  No support.

This Linux wireless driver package supports Conexant (formerly Intersil) Prism2/2.5/3 chipsets including Prism3 SSF,
in PCMCIA, PCI and PLX (PCI to PCMCIA) form,
... but not USB.

Prism3 SSF (small serial flash) based adaptors, such as the D-Link PCI DWL-520 rev.E1 and PCMCIA DWL-650 rev.P,
depend on their firmware being loaded into RAM.  This package contains the necessary firmware loading utility.

This driver also supports a so-called Host AP mode, ie. it takes care of IEEE802.11 management functions in the host computer and acts as an access point.  Host AP mode requires hostapd, the Host AP daemon, available as a separate download.

WPA client encryption support is available with the addition of the wpa_supplicant package, as a separate download.
wpa_supplicant also supports some other Linux wireless drivers.


INSTRUCTIONS
## uncompress the driver package from the uppermost directory
cd /
tar -zxvf hostap-0.4.7.tar.gz
## map the new modules
depmod

## load the driver
modprobe hostap_cs  ## or hostap_pci or hostap_plx
## if no error messages, this should create a network interface, wlan0
## can check this by running ifconfig -a
## some adaptors such as Prism3 SSF require firmware to be loaded
## this firmware should be located in /etc/firmware/
## but don't do this with other adaptors

#/usr/local/bin/hostap_fw_load wlan0
#ifconfig wlan0 up ## this seems to be necessary after firmware load

## now set up the wireless network
iwconfig wlan0 essid MY_ESSID key 1234567890 mode managed
## for automatic IP
dhcpcd -t 20 -h puppypc -d wlan0
## or for static IP
## modify /etc/resolv.conf to include your nameservers
#ifconfig wlan0 192.168.0.xx broadcast 192.168.0.255 netmask 255.255.255.0
#route add default gw 192.168.0.1 wlan0   # or whatever your router's IP is


MAKING IT PERMANENT
If this driver works with your hardware, you will want to have it available every time you boot up.
Save the driver tarball to your /root directory, which is persistent if you use a pupfile.
Add the uncompress and depmod commands to /root/.etc/rc.d/rc.local

cd /
tar -zxvf /root/hostap-0.4.7.tar.gz
depmod

This will install the driver every time you boot up, ready to load and configure as explained above.
A script for this purpose, "hostap-connect" is available.  Just modify the script to include your wireless settings.