OS X "distro" with Ethernet during setup? (For Time Machine)

I've managed to get 10.5.7 working on my AAO (although the upgrade to 10.5.7 was a bit hairy), and it's working well.

I set up my Ubuntu server to support Time Machine over the network (instructions at http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/06/ubu ... ne-volume/), and it's working fairly well. However, when I screwed up my 10.5.7 upgrade the first time, getting to my Time Machine backup was a bit of a pain, since there is no support for either the Ethernet or WLAN in the iATKOS 5i installer. The option to enter Time Machine is there, so I copied my Time Machine files to an HFS+ formatted USB hard drive and restored that way. It worked, but was painful. (It also gave me an opportunity to try out Chameleon 2.0-rc1, siuce the Time Machine restore blew away the old Chameleon boot loader.)

Can anybody who has used the other OS X variants (iDeneb, etc.) comment on whether or not their install images support the Ethernet port on the AAO 150 during the installer? Ethernet is preferable to WiFi, unless there is some easy way to configure WPA settings within the installer (it's faster too). Or is there some alternate DVD/USB stick that I could use, or some way to install the R1000 kext from the terminal in the installer?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe