Connecting to Wireless Networks

[Robert L Cochran]

Rick Bilonick wrote:

> I asked about connecting to public wireless networks before but did 
> not get much input. I am using RH 9 on a laptop. I have no problem 
> connecting to my home wireless network. I used the gui network program 
> to do the configuration. It uses wep in managed mode and dhcp. It was 
> simple to do.
>
> But connecting the same laptop to other wireless networks has never 
> worked. No matter how I try to configue using the gui interface, I 
> never get a connection, regardless of whether the network has an essid 
> and wep or not. The green led on the wireless card (D-Link 650 - prism 
> 2 chipset) always flashes (it is solid when it connects). (I have no 
> trouble connecting the laptop to wired networks in hotels.)
>
> So I have recently tried using iwconfig. I open a shell as root and 
> enter commands like:
>
> /sbin/iwconfig eth1 key off
> /sbin/iwconfig eth1 mode Managed
> /sbin/iwconfig eth1 essid any
> /sbin/ifconfig eth1 up
> /sbin/dhclient eth1
>
> if I the network doesn't use wep. If the network requires an essid 
> and/or wep, I include the information and modify the above commands 
> apropriately.
>
> When I use these commands, the card connects to the network (the green 
> light stays on without blinking) and the icon on the panel shows a 
> connection. If I do a "netstat -r" I can see the gateway's IP address. 
> I can ping this IP address and my computer at home. But I can't do 
> much else. DNS doesn't work and I can't find any web pages. The web 
> browser is supposed to go to a login web page but I can never get to 
> it. My understanding was all I needed was an empty "dhclient.conf" 
> file and I would get a lease and the domain name server address. I do 
> get a lease but I don't think DNS is working. I can't ssh or telnet 
> anywhere. (Yet I can ping as described above.)
>
> I have tried this on two different wireless networks (Barnes & Noble 
> and a university library). I connect but can't do anything other than 
> ping some IP addresses. I cannot get to the login web pages or any 
> other web pages. What else do I need to do? Something else must need 
> to be configured. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Rick B.
>
I have this exact problem with Fedora Core 2. I'm able to connect just 
fine at home, where I have my own wireless access point, but if I walk 
across the street to the local cafe and try to connect to their public 
access point using a different "profile", I can't connect. Then when I 
return home, frustrated and feeling rather stupid, I can get my "home" 
profile to connect. I have to activate it, but it connects smoothly. I 
get the impression it might be because this is the first (or topmost) 
profile in the list of profiles I have. I've never been able to get any 
but the "home" profile to work.

Is there a fix for this?

Bob Cochran
Greenbelt, Maryland, USA