Hi All
I'm after some wireless card advice. I have the latest Ubuntu installed on my wife's old:
HP Pavilion Pentium 4
and I'm using it as a build box. I need to go wireless. The machine has a couple of PCI slots free. What would people recommend in terms of a wireless card? How would I then go about setting it up?
I also have an old USB Belkin F5D6050 wireless adapter. I think it's only 16 bit. Could I use that? I have no idea where to start to set it up....
I have an Edimax wireless card bought from the Linux Emporium in my 7-year-old shuttle box at home, and it's happily running under Ubuntu 9.04. (It was less happy under 9.10 as the connection kept dropping, presumably due to a driver problem.) All I did was install the hardware and then install Ubuntu (I'd use Debian before then) -- the card was found and configured automagically, all I had to do was select the network and enter the password.
HTH.
..Adrian -- Dr Adrian F Clark WEB: http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~alien/ EMAIL: alien/at/essex.ac.uk TEL: +44 1206 872432 FAX: +44 1206 872900 PAPER: Comp Sci & Elec Eng, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK "The great tragedy of science: the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact" -- Huxley
On Fri, 2 Apr 2010 17:07:35 +0100 Paul Grenyer paul.grenyer@gmail.com allegedly wrote:
Hi All
I'm after some wireless card advice. I have the latest Ubuntu installed on my wife's old:
HP Pavilion Pentium 4
and I'm using it as a build box. I need to go wireless. The machine has a couple of PCI slots free. What would people recommend in terms of a wireless card? How would I then go about setting it up?
I also have an old USB Belkin F5D6050 wireless adapter. I think it's only 16 bit. Could I use that? I have no idea where to start to set it up....
Do you /really/ need to go wireless on that box? That belkin card is 802.11b standard. Depending on the other wireless devices on your network, this could impact on the network's performance as the AP negotiates down to the lowest common denominator device (i.e. the belkin at 11 Mbit/s - in practice likely to be no more than 5 Mbit/s). A newer PCI card such as the F5D7000 or Linksys WMP54G will give you 802.11g (54 Mbit/s) for around 20 quid. But you could also opt for one of the ethernet over powerline options such as Devolo, Solwise or Netgear produce (around 40-50 quid for two). I use the dLan kit on a couple of machines and the throughput (and reliability) is much better than wireless - but my house has thick walls.
I wouldn't worry too much about the setup. If you are using a recent 'buntu the drivers for most popular wireless cards should already be available - and of course if you opt for the "homeplug" type approach, then you don't need to worry about drivers at all.
Mick
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Hi
I wouldn't worry too much about the setup. If you are using a recent 'buntu the drivers for most popular wireless cards should already be available - and of course if you opt for the "homeplug" type approach, then you don't need to worry about drivers at all.
Ok, so my DWL-G510 has arrived! However, I have no idea how to get it working. I've installed it in the PC and I have lights! And lspci gives me:
... 02:02.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2561/TR61 rev B 802.11g ....
I'm running ubuntu 9.10 server, so there's no GUI. Google isn't helping much either!
Help!
On Wed, 7 Apr 2010 19:54:21 +0100 Paul Grenyer paul.grenyer@gmail.com wrote:
Hi
I wouldn't worry too much about the setup. If you are using a recent 'buntu the drivers for most popular wireless cards should already be available - and of course if you opt for the "homeplug" type approach, then you don't need to worry about drivers at all.
Ok, so my DWL-G510 has arrived! However, I have no idea how to get it working. I've installed it in the PC and I have lights! And lspci gives me:
.... 02:02.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2561/TR61 rev B 802.11g .....
I'm running ubuntu 9.10 server, so there's no GUI. Google isn't helping much either!
Help!
You could try putting something like the following in the /etc/network/interfaces file obviously using your SSID and WPA key:
# The wireless interface. This is connected to the local # wireless LAN which in turn is connected to the internet
allow-hotplug wlan1 iface wlan1 inet static address 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 network 192.168.1.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255 gateway 192.168.1.1 # dns-* options are implemented by the resolvconf package, if # installed dns-nameservers 192.168.1.1 dns-search your.domain.co.uk wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
If you want to use DHCP you could go for something like:
allow-hotplug wlan1 iface wlan1 inet auto wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
HTH, Steve.
Hi
If you want to use DHCP you could go for something like:
allow-hotplug wlan1 iface wlan1 inet auto wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
Thanks for this.
A iwconfig suggests that my wireless adapter is wlan0. So I tried:
allow-hotplug wlan1 iface wlan1 inet auto wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
obviously with my SSID and my wpa-psk.
when I: /etc/init.d/networking restart
I get:
/etc/network/interfaces:19: unknown method
Line 19 for me is:
iface wlan1 inet auto
If I change that too:
iface wlan1 inet dhcp
Then I can restart nextworking, but there's no sign of wlan0. If I change too:
auto wlan1 iface wlan1 inet dhcp wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
and restart networking wlan0 tries to connected, but I get:
Listening on LPF/wlan0/00:26:5a:87:37:ca Sending on LPF/wlan0/00:26:5a:87:37:ca Sending on Socket/fallback DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 21 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11 No DHCPOFFERS received. No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
I'm still completely lost here......
On 08/04/10 09:13, Paul Grenyer wrote:
Hi
If you want to use DHCP you could go for something like:
allow-hotplug wlan1 iface wlan1 inet auto wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
Thanks for this.
A iwconfig suggests that my wireless adapter is wlan0. So I tried:
allow-hotplug wlan1 iface wlan1 inet auto wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
obviously with my SSID and my wpa-psk.
when I: /etc/init.d/networking restart
I get:
/etc/network/interfaces:19: unknown method
Line 19 for me is:
iface wlan1 inet auto
If I change that too:
iface wlan1 inet dhcp
Then I can restart nextworking, but there's no sign of wlan0. If I change too:
auto wlan1
Aren't you meant to be configuring wlan0? Why do you have wlan1 then?
iface wlan1 inet dhcp wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
and restart networking wlan0 tries to connected, but I get:
Listening on LPF/wlan0/00:26:5a:87:37:ca Sending on LPF/wlan0/00:26:5a:87:37:ca Sending on Socket/fallback DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 21 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11 No DHCPOFFERS received. No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
I'm still completely lost here......
To test that your wireless device can see the network, try:
$ sudo iwlist scanning
It should show you lots of details on all the networks it can see.
At Thu, 8 Apr 2010 09:13:48 +0100, Paul Grenyer wrote:
Hi
If you want to use DHCP you could go for something like:
allow-hotplug wlan1 iface wlan1 inet auto wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
I'm not sure how hotplug and wireless devices mix. It's probably incredibly clever and would make completely unnecessary the manual approach I take, but on the other hand it could just be confusing.
A iwconfig suggests that my wireless adapter is wlan0. So I tried:
allow-hotplug wlan1 iface wlan1 inet auto wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
obviously with my SSID and my wpa-psk.
I may be very out of touch, but I use wpa-supplicant to manage my authenticated wireless network connections. So I have something like:
iface wlan0 inet dhcp wireless-essid foobar pre-up wpa_supplicant -B -D wext -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant
in my /etc/network/interfaces
and then
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant ctrl_interface_group=root network={ ssid="foobar" key_mgmt=WPA-PSK psk="password" }
in my /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
when I: /etc/init.d/networking restart
I get:
/etc/network/interfaces:19: unknown method
Line 19 for me is:
iface wlan1 inet auto
If I change that too:
iface wlan1 inet dhcp
Then I can restart nextworking, but there's no sign of wlan0. If I change too:
auto wlan1 iface wlan1 inet dhcp wpa-driver wext wpa-ssid Your SSID wpa-psk yourwpakey
Still not convinved by all this 'auto' stuff.
and restart networking wlan0 tries to connected, but I get:
Listening on LPF/wlan0/00:26:5a:87:37:ca Sending on LPF/wlan0/00:26:5a:87:37:ca Sending on Socket/fallback DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 21 DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11 No DHCPOFFERS received. No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
I'm still completely lost here......
In my experience, you get this when the wireless device is working OK, but it can't get an IP address from the router. This could be a DHCP issue, but it could also be an authentication issue.
There may be more information in your /var/log/messages.
Finally, if this is Ubuntu, why not try removing (or commenting out) *everything* from /etc/network/interfaces and allowing NetworkManager to do it all for you?
HI
On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 10:53 AM, Richard Lewis richardlewis@fastmail.co.uk wrote:
To test that your wireless device can see the network, try:
$ sudo iwlist scanning
It should show you lots of details on all the networks it can see.
It does! And there's my network:
wlan0 Scan completed : Cell 01 - Address: 00:0F:3D:01:D0:AD Channel:6 Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6) Quality=40/70 Signal level=-70 dBm Encryption key:on ESSID:"oceaner" Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s Mode:Master Extra:tsf=0000009fd5ad83f2 Extra: Last beacon: 1068ms ago IE: Unknown: 00076F6365616E6572 IE: Unknown: 010582848B962C IE: Unknown: 030106 IE: Unknown: DD0408002800
I may be very out of touch, but I use wpa-supplicant to manage my authenticated wireless network connections. So I have something like:
iface wlan0 inet dhcp wireless-essid foobar pre-up wpa_supplicant -B -D wext -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant
in my /etc/network/interfaces
and then
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant ctrl_interface_group=root network={ ssid="foobar" key_mgmt=WPA-PSK psk="password" }
in my /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
I'll give that a try when I get a few mins, thanks.
I'm still completely lost here......
In my experience, you get this when the wireless device is working OK, but it can't get an IP address from the router. This could be a DHCP issue, but it could also be an authentication issue.
So it looks like I'm going in the right direction.
There may be more information in your /var/log/messages.
Finally, if this is Ubuntu, why not try removing (or commenting out) *everything* from /etc/network/interfaces and allowing NetworkManager to do it all for you?
Can you do that from the command line with the server version?
On Thu, 8 Apr 2010 11:28:26 +0100 Paul Grenyer paul.grenyer@gmail.com wrote:
HI
On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 10:53 AM, Richard Lewis richardlewis@fastmail.co.uk wrote:
To test that your wireless device can see the network, try:
$ sudo iwlist scanning
It should show you lots of details on all the networks it can see.
It does! And there's my network:
wlan0 Scan completed : Cell 01 - Address: 00:0F:3D:01:D0:AD Channel:6 Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6) Quality=40/70 Signal level=-70 dBm Encryption key:on ESSID:"oceaner" Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s Mode:Master Extra:tsf=0000009fd5ad83f2 Extra: Last beacon: 1068ms ago IE: Unknown: 00076F6365616E6572 IE: Unknown: 010582848B962C IE: Unknown: 030106 IE: Unknown: DD0408002800
I may be very out of touch, but I use wpa-supplicant to manage my authenticated wireless network connections. So I have something like:
iface wlan0 inet dhcp wireless-essid foobar pre-up wpa_supplicant -B -D wext -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant
in my /etc/network/interfaces
and then
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant ctrl_interface_group=root network={ ssid="foobar" key_mgmt=WPA-PSK psk="password" }
in my /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
I'll give that a try when I get a few mins, thanks.
I am sure the syntax with the WPA key in the /etc/network/interfaces file uses wpa_suplicant too and ifup starts wpa_supplicant with the necessary options. I can't remember now how I discovered it was possible to put the key there as previously I had been scratching my head about how/when to start it.
I'm still completely lost here......
In my experience, you get this when the wireless device is working OK, but it can't get an IP address from the router. This could be a DHCP issue, but it could also be an authentication issue.
So it looks like I'm going in the right direction.
I'd double-check the WPA key. In my case the key did not contain any spaces - I don't know if there is any escaping required if it does (though my SSID does contain spaces and didn't need escaping).
I'd also check on the router to see which version of WPA it supports and experiment with that setting.
There may be more information in your /var/log/messages.
Finally, if this is Ubuntu, why not try removing (or commenting out) *everything* from /etc/network/interfaces and allowing NetworkManager to do it all for you?
Can you do that from the command line with the server version?
I don't know the answer to that, I'm afraid.
Regards, Steve.
At Fri, 9 Apr 2010 00:03:47 +0100, Steve Fosdick wrote:
On Thu, 8 Apr 2010 11:28:26 +0100 Paul Grenyer paul.grenyer@gmail.com wrote:
Finally, if this is Ubuntu, why not try removing (or commenting out) *everything* from /etc/network/interfaces and allowing NetworkManager to do it all for you?
Can you do that from the command line with the server version?
Oh yes, I'd forgotten you were working GUI-less.
I don't know the answer to that, I'm afraid.
What does your
$ man nm-tool
say? Apart from that, Google turns up at least one command line client for NetworkManager:
http://vidner.net/martin/software/cnetworkmanager/
But there's no deb for it.
Though the whole point of NetworkManager is that you shouldn't need to configure it at all. But I guess you do need a way to select a wireless network...
Hi All
Got it! In the end I booted up my EEEPC and got the configuration from there:
auto wlan0 iface wlan0 inet dhcp wireless-channel 6 wireless-essid oceaner wireless-key secret wireless-keymode open wireless-mode auto wireless-rate auto xncs-wireless-encryption wep
All seems to be working fine now. Thanks for the pointers!