1. Introduction
This is the beginnings of a FrequentlyAskedQuestions list for the IrcChannel (#wireless on the FreeNode Network). We would really appreciate it if you took a minute to look these over before asking us questions answered here. Thanks!
2. Wireless Network Card Questions
2.1. What is the best 802.11b wireless 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 receive 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]. However, many people have reported headaches when using such high powered wireless cards, raising some concerns. I would only recommend this card for point to point links in the boonies.
2.2. 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.
2.3. Will my Broadcom chipset wireless card work in Linux or *BSD? (Linksys wmp11v2.7 and Dell Truemobile 1180 for example)
- No. Please contact the manufacturer and ask for support.
2.4. 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.
2.5. Do 802.11a cards work under Linux or *BSD?
There is a Linux driver for Atheros based cards available from http://team.vantronix.net/ar5k/ however this driver is experimental and may not work! If you have an unsupported chipset, contact the manufacturer, then return the hardware.
2.6. 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.
2.7. What driver should I use for Linux?
For lucent/orinoco cards, orinoco_cs, for Prism2/2.5/3 HostAp is strongly suggested (site apears to be down, you can download hostap [http://truffula.net/~forrest/temp/hostap-2002-10-12.tar.gz here]), for cisco/aironet cards, airo_cs. You can get rpms of kernels including hostap at http://www.cat.pdx.edu/~baera/redhat_hostap/ These are using the redhat patched kernel source, with hostap included.
2.8. How do I get my Linksys WPC11 to work under Linux?
See http://tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Wireless-Link-sys-WPC11/
I do not recommend following these directions, as the drivers are not totally compatible with the linux wireless extensions, which are a standard all the other drivers follow. If you choose to use wlan-ng, please don't expect any support what so ever from #wireless. The WPC11 is a prism2 chipset card, try following directions for other prism2 based cards, orinoco_cs and hostap will also work, and both support the linux wireless extensions. --ForrestEnglish
2.9. What is the best antenna?
- There is no right answer to this, please look up the radiation patterns of antennas your are interested in and see if they will fit your needs. Parabolics are good for long distance links, Helicals, Waveguides and Yagis are generally good for medium distance links, Sector antennas are good for medium distance links or large area coverage, and Omni antennas are good for large area coverage.
2.10. How can I hack an antenna onto my wireless card?
- If your card doesn't already have an antenna connector, you should return it and buy one that does (ORiNOCO, Cisco, Enginius/Senao and a few D-Link's have proper connectors). Seriously.
2.11. I want a wireless network scanner under Linux, or help configuring one, please?
For linux the best option is definitely [http://kismetwireless.net Kismet]. There is a [http://truffula.net/~forrest/kismetorinoco.shtml guide] to setting up kismet 2.8 using linux 2.4.20 and an orinoco wireless card here. Kismet supports prism2 and cisco cards as well (cisco cards, and prism2 using hostap don't require any kernel patches, just follow the directions in the kismet readme files).
2.12. Will my USB wireless adapter work under Linux?
- Maybe, support is iffy at best right now. If you are using a prism2 usb adapter, I wish you luck with wlan-ng. If you are using somthing else... I wish you a short trip back to the store.
2.13. How can I find what version of Firmware my Wireless Network card has?
You can find out what firmware you are using by checking /var/log/syslog or /var/log/messages (depending on your distro) when you insert the card. This may or may not work I'm afraid, but you should definitly look.
2.14. I want to build my own antenna, where are instructions to do that?
The cantenna is really the only antenna that is even worth building yourself anymore as antenna prices drop slowly, and we realize what a PITA and a time sink it is to build a quality antenna yourself. But, we do understand the desire to build your own when you first get into this wireless stuff, hell, we did. The cantenna is a waveguide antenna made from a tin can, with a copper wire and an N connector, it can be built in 20 minutes and $5 worth of parts, and will give between 8 and 16 dB of gain have been reported.
Here are instructions for the cantenna: http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html
2.15. I want to install some kind of authentication software for my wireless network, can I do that?
Most access points have mac address limiting options, and also you could enable WEP. Mac addresses can be faked however, and WEP can be broken fairly easily. If you just want to keep causual users off your network, WEP would be your easist solution, just check out the manual of your access point for instructions on enabling this. A better solution might be to use real authentication software like NoCatAuth.
You'll probably want to be comfortable with linux to do this, and use a linux machine as the router either using HostAp or with the access point hooked up directly to the machine. Then you'll want to checkout http://nocat.net for authentication gateway software called NoCatAuth.
2.16. dB, dBm, dBi, mW, W.... What is all this stuff?
mW stands for miliwatt, W for watt. For an explanation on the dB stuff, check out the DeciBels page.
3. Connecting to Networks
3.1. How do I connect to a wireless network?
This is different in each operating system, see AssociationWithNetworks and find your operating system's instructions.
3.2. How do I hack into my neigboors Wireless Network?
Knock on his door and ask if you can use his network. He'll be able to help you get on.
4. Network Configuration help
4.1. How do I setup my network to automatically get an IP address?
This is currently covered in NetworkCommands.
4.2. 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.
5. Who is WifiFred?
WifiFred is our IRC Bot, he maintains a database of various Wireless and Internet related things like Cable types and Internet Standards. He also does simple calculations on Fresnel zones and Path Loss. For brief help, use !help .
See WifiFred for a complete command reference and additional information.
Help with windows specific stuff in NetworkCommands and AssociationWithNetworks would be greatly appreciated. I have pictures and commands for the orinoco software under windows that I can take care of, but anything else is fair game. Further wikiizing this page (like the lucent cards), and any further FAQ's would also be welcome 
--ForrestEnglish