Solution to Connecting to Verizon MiFi
In an effort to give back to the Debian Community, here is a rundown on
How I get wireless working with Verizon's MiFi hub.
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D-link DWA-556 pciE Card with 3 antennas
Working on DJ, an AMD64 system, running Debian Testing, and connecting
to a Verizon MiFi.
These package were installed to get this working:
wicd, wpasupplicant, dhcp3-client, dhcp3-common, iproute, resolvconf.
The ath5K drivers at
<http://sourceforge.net/projects/madwifi/files/madwifi/0.9.4/>
or from here; <http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Download>
More info at : <http://madwifi-project.org/wiki/About/ath5k>
Using wicd version 2.0 as the network manager and the MadWifi ath5k
drivers and kernel 2.6.30.
This requires removing the ath9k driver (modprobe -r ath9k) and
installing the ath5k drivers (modprobe ath_pci). When testing with the
ath9k drivers the system would lock up and required a reboot. The card
worked for some time prior to the kernel Panic.
I added a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file with a "blacklist ath9k"
line (no quotes) to solve that problem.
When used with the MiFi the gateway is 192.162.1.1. The dns-domain is
myvzw.com. I found that the DNS server changes, so I configured the 1st
nameserver as 66.174.95.44, the 2nd as 8.8.8.8 and the 3rd as 8.8.4.4.
The latter 2 being public servers belonging to google. So far this is
working OK. The MiFi uses WPA-TKIP security and allow up to 5 computers
to connect to it at the same time.
I am using the dhcp3-client package mainly because I could not connect
with the dhcpd package.
Download speeds from my location, Cell tower about 3 miles away, is
running from ~100kBs to >900 kBs on the Verizon 3G Network. This
replaced a AT&T Sierra modem which averaged 12-15 kbs on the GSM
Network. Note: AT&T claims a faster 3G Network then Verizon but it
is not available here. Cost of either service is $60/mo with a 5190 MB
download Cap.
Note: If not able to connect to the internet, disable your firewall.
If you can then connect, fix your firewall. I use firehol.
Thanks Again Stan for all of your help.
Wayne
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