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+<meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org" />
+<title>Wireless</title>
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+alink="#0000FF">
+<div class="NAVHEADER">
+<table summary="Header navigation table" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0"
+cellspacing="0">
+<tr>
+<th colspan="3" align="center">Slackware Linux Essentials</th>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td width="10%" align="left" valign="bottom"><a href="network-configuration-ppp.html"
+accesskey="P">Prev</a></td>
+<td width="80%" align="center" valign="bottom">Chapter 5 Network Configuration</td>
+<td width="10%" align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="network-configuration-nfs.html"
+accesskey="N">Next</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr align="LEFT" width="100%" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="SECT1">
+<h1 class="SECT1"><a id="NETWORK-CONFIGURATION-WIRELESS"
+name="NETWORK-CONFIGURATION-WIRELESS">5.5 Wireless</a></h1>
+
+<p>Wireless networking is still a relatively new thing in the world of computers, yet is
+quickly catching on as more people begin to purchase laptops and want networking on the
+go, without having to fool with some old twisted pair cable. This trend doesn't appear to
+be slowing down. Unfortunately, wireless networking isn't yet as strongly supported in
+Linux as traditional wired networking.</p>
+
+<p>There are three basic steps to configuring an 802.11 wireless Ethernet card:</p>
+
+<ol type="1">
+<li>
+<p>Hardware support for the wireless card</p>
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<p>Configure the card to connect to a wireless access point</p>
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<p>Configure the network</p>
+</li>
+</ol>
+
+<div class="SECT2">
+<h2 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN2033" name="AEN2033">5.5.1 Hardware Support</a></h2>
+
+<p>Hardware support for a wireless card is provided through the kernel, either with a
+module or built in to the kernel. Generally, most newer Ethernet cards are provided
+through kernel modules, so you'll want to determine the appropriate kernel module and
+load it through <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/rc.d/rc.modules</tt>. <tt
+class="COMMAND">netconfig</tt> may not detect your wireless card, so you'll probably need
+to determine the card yourself. See <a
+href="http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/"
+target="_top">http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/</a> for more
+information on kernel drivers for various wireless cards.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="SECT2">
+<h2 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN2044" name="AEN2044">5.5.2 Configure the Wireless
+Settings</a></h2>
+
+<p>The vast majority of this work is done by <tt class="COMMAND">iwconfig</tt>, so as
+always read the man page for <tt class="COMMAND">iwconfig</tt> if you need more
+information.</p>
+
+<p>First, you'll want to configure your wireless access point. Wireless access points
+vary quite a bit in their terminology, and how to configure them, so you may need to
+adjust a bit to accommodate your hardware. In general, you'll need at least the following
+information:</p>
+
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>The domain ID, or name of the network (called the ESSID by <tt
+class="COMMAND">iwconfig</tt>)</p>
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<p>The channel the WAP uses</p>
+</li>
+
+<li>
+<p>The encryption settings, including any keys used (preferably in hexadecimal)</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+<div class="WARNING">
+<table class="WARNING" width="100%" border="0">
+<tr>
+<td width="25" align="CENTER" valign="TOP"><img src="./imagelib/admon/warning.png"
+hspace="5" alt="Warning" /></td>
+<td align="LEFT" valign="TOP">
+<p>A NOTE ABOUT WEP. WEP is quit flawed, but it's much better than nothing. If you wish a
+greater degree of security on your wireless network, you should investigate VPNs or
+IPSec, both of which are beyond the scope of this document. You might also configure your
+WAP not to advertise its domain ID/ ESSID. A thorough discussion of wireless policy is
+beyond the scope of this section, but a quick Google search will turn up more than you
+ever wanted to know.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>Once you've gathered the above information, and assuming you've used <tt
+class="COMMAND">modprobe</tt> to load the appropriate kernel driver, you can edit <tt
+class="FILENAME">rc.wireless.conf</tt> and add your settings. The <tt
+class="FILENAME">rc.wireless.conf</tt> file is a bit untidy. The least effort is to
+modify the generic section with your ESSID and KEY, and CHANNEL if required by your card.
+(Try not setting CHANNEL, and if it works, great; if not, set the CHANNEL as
+appropriate.) If you're daring, you can modify the file so that only the necessary
+variables are set. The variable names in <tt class="FILENAME">rc.wireless.conf</tt>
+correspond to the <tt class="COMMAND">iwconfig</tt> parameters, and are read by <tt
+class="FILENAME">rc.wireless</tt> and used in the appropriate <tt
+class="COMMAND">iwconfig</tt> commands.</p>
+
+<p>If you have your key in hexadecimal, that's ideal, since you can be fairly confident
+that your WAP and <tt class="COMMAND">iwconfig</tt> will agree on the key. If you only
+have a string, you can't be sure how your WAP will translate that into a hexadecimal key,
+so some guesswork may be needed (or get your WAP's key in hex).</p>
+
+<p>Once you've modified <tt class="FILENAME">rc.wireless.conf</tt>, run <tt
+class="FILENAME">rc.wireless</tt> as <tt class="USERNAME">root</tt>, then run <tt
+class="FILENAME">rc.inet1</tt>, again as <tt class="USERNAME">root</tt>. You can test
+your wireless networking with standard testing tools such as <tt
+class="COMMAND">ping</tt>, along with <tt class="COMMAND">iwconfig</tt>. If you have a
+wired interface you may wish to use <tt class="COMMAND">ifconfig</tt> to turn those
+interfaces off while you test your wireless networking to ensure there's no interference.
+You may also want to test your changes through a reboot.</p>
+
+<p>Now that you've seen how to edit <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/rc.d/rc.wireless</tt> for
+you default network, let's take a closer look at iwconfig and see how it all works. This
+will teach you the quick and dirty way of setting up wifi for those times when you find
+yourself at an Internet cafe, coffee shop, or any other wifi hot spot and wish to get
+online.</p>
+
+<p>The first step is to tell your wireless NIC what network to join. Make sure you
+replace &#8220;<tt class="FILENAME">eth0</tt>&#8221; with whatever network interface your
+wireless card uses and change &#8220;<var class="REPLACEABLE">mynetwork</var>&#8221; to
+the essid you wish to use. Yes, we know you're smarter than that. Next you'll have to
+specify the encryption key (if any) used on your wireless network. Finally specify the
+channel to use (if needed).</p>
+
+<table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
+<tr>
+<td>
+<pre class="SCREEN">
+<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">iwconfig eth0 essid "<var
+class="REPLACEABLE">mynetwork</var>"</kbd>
+<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">iwconfig eth0 key <var
+class="REPLACEABLE">XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</var></kbd>
+<samp class="PROMPT">#</samp> <kbd class="USERINPUT">iwconfig eth0 channel n</kbd>
+</pre>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>That should be all on the wireless end of things.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="SECT2">
+<h2 class="SECT2"><a id="AEN2101" name="AEN2101">5.5.3 Configure the Network</a></h2>
+
+<p>This is done in the exact same way as wired networks. Simply refer to earlier sections
+of this chapter.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="NAVFOOTER">
+<hr align="LEFT" width="100%" />
+<table summary="Footer navigation table" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0"
+cellspacing="0">
+<tr>
+<td width="33%" align="left" valign="top"><a href="network-configuration-ppp.html"
+accesskey="P">Prev</a></td>
+<td width="34%" align="center" valign="top"><a href="index.html"
+accesskey="H">Home</a></td>
+<td width="33%" align="right" valign="top"><a href="network-configuration-nfs.html"
+accesskey="N">Next</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td width="33%" align="left" valign="top">PPP</td>
+<td width="34%" align="center" valign="top"><a href="network-configuration.html"
+accesskey="U">Up</a></td>
+<td width="33%" align="right" valign="top">Network File Systems</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>
+