This is the beginnings of a FrequentlyAskedQuestions list for the IrcChannel (#wireless on the Open Projects Network).

TableOfContents

1. Wireless Network Card Questions

1.1. Will my D-link DWL-650+, 3Com USR2210 (or other Ti chipset 22 Mbps hardware) work in Linux or *BSD?

• No. They use a currently unsupported Ti chipset. Please tell D-link that Linux support would be greatly appreciated.

1.2. What is the best card?

• This is a highly subjective question. In my opinion the best all around wireless card is a Lucent/Orinoco Silver or a Gold card. They have good OS support, external antenna jacks, and have one of the highest recive sensitivity on the market. If you are looking to make a HostAp machine, you might want to look into the Zcomax Prism2Card or the [http://www.netgate.com/NL2511.html Senao 200mW cards].

1.3. I'd like to try doing ___________ with 802.11b. Will it work?

• Dunno, maybe. Wireless networking depends on so many different factors that it's impossible to say for sure. Try it and let us know.

1.4. Do 802.11a cards work under Linux or *BSD?

• Nope. As with other unsupported chipsets, contact the manufacturer, then return the hardware.

1.5. I'm trying to use my ________ (prism2 chipset card) under linux, and I can't figure out wlan-ng, help!

• You might want to try using HostAp ( http://hostap.epitest.fi/ ), it is a driver that supports ad-hoc, infastructure and master modes, and uses the linux wireless extensions, so you can configure it with iwconfig, unlike wlan-ng.

1.6. What driver should I use for Linux?

• For lucent/orinoco cards, orinoco_cs, for Prism2/2.5/3 HostAp is strongly suggested, for cisco/aironet cards, airo_cs.

2. Connecting to Networks

2.1. How do I connect to a wireless network?

• This is different in each operating system, see AssociationWithNetworks and find your operating system's instructions.

3. Network Configuration help

3.1. What commands do I need to use?

• The NetworkCommands page lists commands used to configure IP address information once you have your radio associated with the access point.

3.2. How do I setup my network to automatically get an IP address?

• Many service providers use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to assign Network Addresses. Some may

use PPPoE which will be covered in more detail later.

3.2.1. Linux

• You'll need dhcpc. You probably have it.

3.2.2. FreeBSD/OpenBSD

• Many of the BSD's have dhclient. To run dhclient manually use:

 dhclient wi0 (where wi0 is the name of your network card)

FreeBSD users can have dhclient run automagically at bootup by adding the line

ifconfig_wi0="dhcp"

to /etc/rc.conf

BR

• More entries and help would be much appreciated. --ForrestEnglish

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