Now using Ubuntu Linux.....I need wireless network help....SOLVED

[TEEZLE]

I need help with the Ubuntu wireless support. (Network card is recognized)


My wireless card in the laptop is recognized and shows as working. But I can not for the life of me connect to my network. I enabled the showing of the SSID in the router to broadcast the network name. Now is there a way to specify a mac address for my wireless card in Ubuntu? Is this what I would have to do? I thought the MAC address is always identified to the router? Maybe I should disable Mac address control in my router? I want to at least leave the WEP encryption on. If I disable that, that would mean no security at all! I even typed in my passphrase correctly in the Ubuntu network settings. Any ideas?

SOLVED: Well, I had to disable WEP for it to work. I was using a passphrase instead of a WEP key. Just didn't want to connect using the passphrase? I still have filtering by MAC address in my router, so I do have some security.

EDIT: The laptop was a Dell 600M and all devices were configured and worked right out the box with Ubuntu.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Freesbie or something can be run from cd.

 

[TEEZLE]

Thanks. I went ahead and downloaded the Ubuntu Linux. I already made a 10gig partition and will try and install it on there. I'll keep you posted on the results.

Just saw this on the Ubuntu site The Live CD contains a full Ubuntu desktop installation that you can safely try on your Windows-based computer without installing anything on your hard disk. To try the Live CD, place the CD in your CD-ROM drive and reboot your computer.

Downloading that Live CD now!

 

[TEEZLE]

Well, I am successfully posting this thread from the Ubuntu Live CD on my work desktop. It is sweet! I am going to put a real install on the hard drive partition I have on my laptop at home. Loving the look so far for Ubuntu. all devices are recognized fine. It will hopefully recognize my Netgear Wireless card in the laptop.

 

[Nothinman]

And FWIW, FreeBSD is not a Linux distribution.

 

[TEEZLE]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
And FWIW, FreeBSD is not a Linux distribution.

OK thanks for the clear up. And what does FWIW mean?

Now back to Ubuntu, my wireless card in the laptop is recognized and shows as working. But I can not for the life of me connect to my network. I enabled the showing of the SSID in the router to broadcast the network name. Now is there a way to specify a mac address for my wireless card in Ubuntu? Is this what I would have to do? I thought the MAC address is always identified to the router? Maybe I should disable Mac address control in my router? But that would mean no security at all! I want to at least leave the WEP encryption on. I even typed in my passphrase correctly in the Ubuntu network settings. Any ideas?

Thanks a lot!

 

[KB]

No you cannot specify a MAC address for your card. I would turn off MAC address control until you get connected then turn it back on with the new MAC in the allowed list. I don't think people have gotten WEP to work well in linux. You will most likely have to turn it off.

 

[Nothinman]

OK thanks for the clear up. And what does FWIW mean?

For What It's Worth.

I don't think people have gotten WEP to work well in linux. You will most likely have to turn it off.

WEP should work fine. I'm not sure if Ubuntu has a GUI tool for it, but you should just have to set the key via 'iwconfig <device> key <key>'.

 

[TEEZLE]

Well, I had to disable WEP for it to work. I was using a passphrase instead of a WEP key. Just didn't want to connect using the passphrase? I still have filtering by MAC address in my router, so I do have some security.

Ubuntu is sweet! After trying other versions like Mandrake and RedHat (yep I know they are considered weak), I must say I like the "looks" of Ubuntu. I still am dual booting with Windows XP just in case I want to play some games. Fr the hell of it, I am going to try that WINE software or whatever to mess arond with virtual Windows. Now don't get me wrong, if someone asked me to compile something, I would freeze in my tracks. I don't even know how to start compiling! LOL What do I do? Go to run application?! LMAO

Thanks for the help guys!

EDIT: The laptop was a Dell 600M and all devices were configured and worked right out the box with Ubuntu!

 

[bersl2]

WTF? WEP works very well. Unless it's a card-specific issue.

Though really, nobody should use WEP anymore, since it's flawed.

 

[TEEZLE]

Originally posted by: bersl2
WTF? WEP works very well. Unless it's a card-specific issue.

Though really, nobody should use WEP anymore, since it's flawed.

So am I doing the right thing by just using MAC filtering? Or should I do something else as well?

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Nothinman]

Though really, nobody should use WEP anymore, since it's flawed.

For home use WEP is fine. All you need it to do is be a deterrent, most people will see you have WEP enabled and move on because 9 times out of 10 they'll find an open AP in under 2 minutes.

And as I said, I haven't personally used WEP but according to the iwconfig man page you can use a password instead of a straight hex key by using 'iwconfig <device> key sassword'.

 

[user1234]

Ubuntu has no problem using WEP, just select System Configuration->Networking and set the properties of your connection - it should have a WEP option where you can enter the key (use the same key on the router and the PC). I think that using a password is not very reliable, and anyway the password just gets converted into a key, so it's not really more secure, just easier to remember. WEP is still better than no encription, as without it it's substantially easier to listen to your network traffic, and also as mentioned above most people will pass up secure wireless networks and just try to tap into unsecured ones (which don't use WEP).

 

[TEEZLE]

Originally posted by: user1234
Ubuntu has no problem using WEP, just select System Configuration->Networking and set the properties of your connection - it should have a WEP option where you can enter the key (use the same key on the router and the PC). I think that using a password is not very reliable, and anyway the password just gets converted into a key, so it's not really more secure, just easier to remember. WEP is still better than no encription, as without it it's substantially easier to listen to your network traffic, and also as mentioned above most people will pass up secure wireless networks and just try to tap into unsecured ones (which don't use WEP).

Thanks for the help! I didn't realize that if you use a passphrase, a WEP key is generated automatically. When I went into the router, I just copy and pasted the auto generated key. Works like a champ now Thanks a lot for the help you all!

One more thing, what's the terminal command (when you are root) to create a new directory? I can't for the life of me figure it out! Is there a way for my account to be able to create folders in those "root authorized only" folders in the GUI file manager? The create new folder is greyed out.

Thanks again!!

 

[Nothinman]

mkdir

You _might_ be able to use nautilus as root with sudo, but I wouldn't recommend it because it's way too easy to accidentally do something wrong like that.

 

[user1234]

Yeah, if you use the menu option "System Tools->Run as different user", and then type "nautilus /" you will get the GUI file manager with root privileges. Be careful.