Thought it might be time to post the solution.
Basically I came across this link
http://www.wireless-driver.com/download/buffalo/Buffalo-Nfiniti-Wireless-N-High-Power-Compact-USB-20-Adapter-WLI-UC-G300HP-Drivers.htm
Which states:
Device Name: BUFFALO WLI-UC-G300HP Wireless LAN Adapter, it's based on Ralink RT2870 series USB Wireless LAN Card.
Hardware ID: USB\VID_0411&PID_0148
So I decided I would try the RT2870STA Driver again
I downloaded the latest version from http://www.ralinktech.com/ralink/Home/Support/Linux.html
Specifically http://www.ralinktech.com.tw/data/drivers/2009_0424_RT2870_Linux_STA_V2.1.1.0.tgz
I downloaded and moved this file to /usr/src
I based my solution on this page http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=960642
I followed the basic steps.
unpack the tar file
1) cd 2009_0424_RT2870_Linux_STA_V2.1.1.0/
2) cd 2009_0424_RT2870_Linux_STA_V2.1.1.0/os/linux
3) vi usb_main_dev.c
4) add {USB_DEVICE(0x0411,0x0148)}, to the list of devices, you can find this by searching for "Buffalo" and adding the above line under that last entry.
So it shoud look like
{USB_DEVICE(0x0411,0x00e8)}, /* Buffalo WLI-UC-G300N*/
{USB_DEVICE(0x0411,0x0148)},
5) cd /../..
6) make
7) make install
8) modprobe rt2870sta
You should now see ra0 as an interface when you use the iwconfig command
The rest is pretty standard and you should be able to find the information you need to get the interface up and running.
I think the driver still needs to be updated to match the hardware better, based on observation, but it works.