NOTE: All commands in this section assume you are logged in as root. If you are "su root", some of the commands will need to be preceded by /sbin/
1. Make sure your PC's wireless interface is switched ON (left side of keyboard, near front). Run network interface configuration
# neat
From a clean Fedora installation, you will probably see two active "eth0" devices, one of which (looking at the Hardware tab) is the standard 82801CAM Ethernet Controller, while the other may be shown as an Intersil Prism II Wireless Card. This will cause a conflict and will not work...
Delete the Intersil Card from the Hardware list and the second eth0 interface from the Devices list (you may have to de-activate the interface first). If the Devices list includes an "eth1" item, delete this also. Now, save your changes and exit.
Re-start "neat" and add a new Device of type "Wireless Connection" using the "orinoco_cs" hardware. Edit the Wireless Settings for eth1 to specify interface IP addresses (static) or DHCP (assigned), and enter ESSID and encryption key: check with your network administrator if you do not know these. Also select the option to start the eth1 interface automatically when the computer boots up.
Make sure that you have the following lines in your /etc/modules.conf :
alias eth0 eepro100 alias eth1 orinoco
2. Check that wireless interface is receiving signal
# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
eth1 IEEE 802.11-DS ESSID:"***********" Nickname:"myhostname.mydomain"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462GHz Access Point: 00:04:76:A7:9F:E7
Bit Rate=11Mb/s Tx-Power=15 dBm Sensitivity:1/3
RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:****-****-**
Power Management:off
Link Quality:38/92 Signal level:-48 dBm Noise level:-86 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:339 Missed beacon:0
Note: ESSID and Encryption key have been concealed with "***" for security reasons.
3. Unplug your eth0 network cable (if you have one) and restart network service:
# service network restart Shutting down interface eth0: [ OK ] Shutting down interface eth1: [ OK ] Shutting down loopback interface: [ OK ] Setting network parameters: [ OK ] Bringing up loopback interface: [ OK ] Bringing up interface eth0: [ OK ] # ifdown eth0 # ifup eth1
4. Test your wireless LAN interface:
# ping www.ukonline.co.uk PING www.ukonline.co.uk (195.40.113.2) from ***.***.***.*** : 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from www.ukonline.co.uk (195.40.113.2): icmp_seq=1 ttl=244 time=13.2 ms 64 bytes from www.ukonline.co.uk (195.40.113.2): icmp_seq=2 ttl=244 time=10.4 ms 64 bytes from www.ukonline.co.uk (195.40.113.2): icmp_seq=3 ttl=244 time=10.5 ms
That's it!
...BUT be aware of a potential problem with kudzu.
"kudzu" detects and configures new hardware during the initialization process. If you
run it manually from a console, it will "re-detect" the Intersil Prism II card,
assign it incorrectly to "eth0", and you will have to start again from the beginning
of this page!
Also, the default initialization script will try to bring up interface "eth1" before Yenta
(the PCMCIA card slot manager) has detected the wireless device. You will get the following
message: "orinoco_cs device eth1 does not seem to be present: delaying initialization".
This message can safely be ignored.
If you need to configure the interface differently between home and office, you may like to try my host-switching script. The script initiates a full shutdown to avoid serious mis-configuration. Please read the README very carefully before using it.
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Public wireless access points are springing up everywhere, and naturally all the user instructions assume the use of Windoze... I recently encountered a "Swisscom Eurospot" access point in a touchdown centre. The following steps were necessary to connect: |