[ltp] T41p, often cannot connect by wireless

[Michael Perry]

Here is what I do on debian unstable with 2.16.26 and I do have some 
issues on occasion.  I sometimes find at different wifi hotspots I 
cannot connect at the first attempt.  IN a hotel in Tokyo I had repeated 
problems until I downed the interface by doing ifdown eth1; iwconfig 
eth1 essid xxxxx key off.  Then I did dhclient eth1 and the interface 
comes up but often I have to mess around with trying to get the web 
interface thing to come up on Linux even if its really free and they 
just have a nominal page to tell you connected or if you pay and have to 
do a real registration.

For networks I connect to often like if I am in a hotel for a week or 
so, I will often add it to a series of commands I use to turn on 
wireless in different spots.  I have the /etc/network/interfaces 
doctored up a bit with different wifi networks I visit and I'll add a 
new one as I need it daily:

> #wifi home
> iface home inet dhcp
> wireless-essid yyyyy
> wireless-key xxxxxxxx
> 
> #wifi tmobile
> iface tmobile inet dhcp
> wireless-essid tmobile
> 
> #wifi work
> iface work inet dhcp
> wireless-essid 
> wireless-key zzzzzzz

So the idea here is I do a ifdown eth1 and then an ifup eth1=home or 
ifup eth1=work and I get the interface up associated with the correct 
wifi hotspot.

I run gnome but I don't like graphical tools at all on any platform. 
Its far easier to just have an xterm open and do a few commands for me.


François Fleuret wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Something pretty annoying happens often with my T41p (kernel 2.6.17,
> debian, but I doubt it matters).
> 
> For instance today I am in an hotel with a wifi spot, and while I can
> clearly see the cells with "iwlist ath0 scan", with decent quality, I
> can not associate the interface to any cell (well, right now I can
> since I moved to the lobby where the signal is perfect).
> 
> I don't have Windows anymore on that machine, so I can not compare to
> the behavior with it, but I remember that it was usually more
> efficient in such a situation. Is there a trick I miss ? Maybe playing
> with "iwconfig sens" can help ?
> 
> More generally what tools do you use to connect to a wifi network ? I
> have to admit I am pretty primitive, usually I scan with "iwlist
> scan", force a AP with "iwconfig ap xx.xx.xx.xx.xx" and run dhcpcd-bin
> on the interface. Is that standard ? Or should I use some application
> to do all that for me ? I don't have gnom nor KDE installed, so I'd
> prefere a command-line / curse application.
> 
> Cheers,
> 

-- 
Michael Perry | Do or do not. There is no try --Master Yoda
mperry@lnxpowered.org | http://www.lnxpowered.org