New kernel, network problems - solution?

[Patrick Wiseman <pwiseman@mindspring.com>]

There have been several posts lately from people having
post-upgraded-kernel network problems.  I recently experienced a similar
problem after installing a new kernel (network unreachable, Linksys device
refusing connection, etc).  When I tried unsuccessfully to 'ifup eth0' it
was suggested that I needed to have CONFIG_FILTER configured.  So, I went
back and did that, and now everything's fine.

But here's what the config help (for a 2.4.x kernel) says about
CONFIG_FILTER:

CONFIG_FILTER:

The Linux Socket Filter is derived from the Berkeley Packet Filter.
If you say Y here, user-space programs can attach a filter to any
socket and thereby tell the kernel that it should allow or disallow
certain types of data to get through the socket.  Linux Socket
Filtering works on all socket types except TCP for now.  See the
text file Documentation/networking/filter.txt for more
information.

You need to say Y here if you want to use PPP packet filtering
(see the CONFIG_PPP_FILTER option below).

If unsure, say N.


If unsure, say N??  If you do that, networking breaks.  This is not the
first time I've had this experience (I have a bad memory when it comes to
kernel options!), but I think that option should say, if unsure, say Y.

Patrick