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Re: dumb question - not sure where to begin configuring a wifi card



* Rodney D. Myers:
>
> I'm trying to get my pcmcia wifi card (Netgear wg511) working. It
> works under windos 98SE, needed for radio programming, but not sure
> where to start looking for coinfiguration.
>
> Debian knows it's a Netgear card, and loads the prism54 module, but
> not sure what I need to start trying to get this card configured.

If you only use one wireless network it is fairly easy. You can
"hardcode" your wireless settings in /etc/network/interfaces. Have a
look at 'man iwconfig' and look at the various parameters. You can write
all these options with the prefix "wireless_" into the section of your
card. E.g.:

iface eth1 inet dhcp
    wireless_mode   managed
    wireless_key    aabbccdd...
    wireless_essid  your_essid  # name of the wireless network

Most of the options in the manpage are optional. The driver will
probably auto-associate with any of the networks it finds and use the
correct channel. Oh, and if you get a warning about missing firmware, go
to http.//prism54.org and grab the latest firmware.

If you want to use more than one network, I suggest you take a look at
waproamd and ifplugd. You can then remove all the wireless_* settings
from the interfaces file and use waproamd to set WEP keys and even
execute custom scripts according to the network you are associated to.

J.
-- 
My drug of choice is self-pity.
[Agree]   [Disagree]
                 <http://www.slowlydownward.com/NODATA/data_enter2.html>



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