Wireless on new laptop

[Anthony Boynes]

Dazed_75 wrote:
> HP dv6000 dual booting Vista and ubuntu 6.10 (I will write up that 
> story Monday).  Wireless is an Intel 3945abg which is supposed to work 
> "out of the box" with ubuntu 6.10 (driver=ipw3945) but does not seem 
> to be.  I think I have a clue but would appreciate if someone could 
> tell me if I am correct or all wet.
>
> I only use WEP on my WRT54GL with HyperWRT (yes, I know how weak it 
> is) mostly to reduce the burden in my TiVo.  Anyway, I have not been 
> able to get the HP to connect wirelessly.  I suspect the 3945 does not 
> support WEP based on this:
>
> larry at lapdog2:~$ sudo iwlist eth1 encryption
> eth1      2 key sizes : 40, 104bits
>           4 keys available :
>                 [1]: <correct digits snipped> (104 bits)
>                 [2]: off
>                 [3]: off
>                 [4]: off
>           Current Transmit Key: [1]
>           Security mode:open
>           Authentication capabilities :
>                 WPA
>                 WPA2
>                 CIPHER TKIP
>                 CIPHER CCMP
>           Current key_mgmt:0xBFE42568
>           Current cipher_pairwise:0xBFE42568
>           Current cipher_group:0xBFE42568
>
> I suspect that may also be why it shows the Security mode as open.  If 
> the problem is no support for WEP, I can change.  I just hate having 
> to do it on the TiVo unit.  Can anyone confirm for me?
> -- 
> Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't 
> matter and those who matter don't mind.  - Dr. Seuss
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The key sizes 40 bits and 104 bits correspond to WEP encryption, so the 
card definitely seems to support it.

As for the security mode, from the iwconfig man pages:

"The security mode may be open or restricted, and its meaning depends on 
the card used. With  most  cards, in  open  mode  no authentication is 
used and the card may also accept non-encrypted sessions, whereas in 
restricted mode only encrypted sessions are accepted and the card will 
use authentication if available."

You can manually set the encryption keys and security mode with 
iwconfig.  I don't know what graphical app ubuntu uses for configuring 
wireless.


Anthony