[PLUG] Wireless Security and Access Protocols

[King Beowulf]

On 12/21/2013 07:42 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Dec 2013, King Beowulf wrote:
> 
>> What wifi chipset and driver are you using on the laptops? Are you sure
>> all the kernel modules needed are loading?
> 
> Hi, Ed!
> 
>    According to lspci:
> 02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6200 (rev
> 35)
> 
> The Ethernet controller is separate.
> 
>    Let me summarize the answers to all your questions by writing that for the
> past 3 years I've had no problems connecting to wifi networks in hotels,
> restaurants, coffee shops, etc. except for motels in small towns like
> Lovelock and Battle Mountain. The Dell has connected wirelessly here, too,
> with previous (Linksys) wireless routers/access points but I connect the
> laptop to the network via Ethernet unless I'm testing the WAP.
> 
>> Did you check ifconfig and iwconfig to see what interface you are using?
>> eth0, eth1 or wlan0 etc.  The correct one must be selected in WICD's
>> "general" tab for the wireless interface.
> 
>    They're all wlan0; eth0 is for the cat5.
> 
>> Under "external programs" select dhcpcd, the rest automatic (unless you
>> use KDE then pick kdesu), or whatever you have installed.
> 
>    Yeah, this is how it's been set.
> 
>> wpa supplicant -> wext
>> backend --> external
> 
>    Yep. That's how it's been set.
> 
>> To set up, "WPA 1/2 hex" on WICD is the same as WPA2-PSK [AES] on most
>> routers (ie, 64 hex digits).
> 
>    And that's the protocol I've been using ... with the same PSK as is set on
> the Belkin.
> 
>> Are you running a firewall
> 
>    Not on the laptops.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rich
> 

Rich,

Is /etc/rc.d/rc.wicd marked as executable?
Are the entries in /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf set to defaults - ie you did
not run netconfig during installation or manually enter network
parameters?
Are you a member of the 'netdev' group? ie, root can connect but a
regular user can't.

I wouldn't fiddle with wpa_supplicant.conf since with wicd (or
networkmanager) it will work ok OOTB for every centrino, broadcom,
atheros chip I've used.

Happy Holidays!
-Ed