IPW2200 in Fedora Core 3 Howto

Notes:

Getting Started

  1. Install FC3 from CD
  2. run yum update and update everything.
  3. Download and install RPM files found here
  4. This installs the modules in a directory called 
    /lib/modules/KERNELVERSION/updates/drivers/net/wireless/ipw
    To enable this driver, you need to run depmod -a
  5. Now, install the driver: modprobe ipw2200

Just To Be Sure...

  1. Confirm that you have the driver loaded properly: grep 2200 /var/log/messages should show some nice results.
  2. Confirm what interface is set up: iwconfig In my case, it told me all about an access point called "linksys" that belongs to a neighbor. My own access point doesn't broadcast its ESSID, so my challenge will be a bit more difficult.

Configuring For My Access Point

My access point is configured without ESSID broadcast, with 128 bit WEP encryption enabled. I'd like to use the WPA encryption, but one of my computers is a Win98 system, and the drivers for the Belkin Wireless card don't support WPA for Windows 98.
  1. After a bit o'googling, I found this web page which gave me some of the pieces I needed.
  2. I started with iwconfig eth1 essid SeCrEcY . Obviously, without encryption, I wasn't going to get anywhere. (oh, and that's not really my ESSID)
  3. Now to enable encryption. I was surprised at how easy it seemed. iwconfig eth1 essid sEcReCy key open 21AFB176C1F52839E2153I3AKS (no, that's not my encryption key, either) The key came from the router's WEP configuration panel - I type in a password and it would fill in this big alphanumeric character. I don't know how it's generated.

Integrating iwconfig With RedHat Scripts and My Access Point

I'm looking to make this really easy. I should be able to just use "ifup eth1" or similar and get hooked up. I tried copying the config for eth0 to eth1 
cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts; cp -a ifcfg-eth0 ifcfg-eth1
and editing it so that ifcfg-eth1 (with DHCP enabled) referenced eth1 instead of eth0, but whenever I tried to start with 
 ifup eth1
any settings at the command link set with iwconfig got lost.

I found this discussion about this which clarified things a bit. After some tweaking, I came up with a file /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth1 which reads: 

DEVICE=eth1
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
ONBOOT=no
TYPE=Wireless
DHCP_HOSTNAME=socrates.charterworks.net
KEY=21AFB176C1F52839E2153I3AKS
ESSID=SeCrEcY
MODE=Managed
CHANNEL=4
And.... it works! I run ifdown eth0; ifup eth1 and I can access websites, get email, the works - without an ethernet cable!

Accessing Other Hotspots

I travel a fair amount. Accessing remote hotspots has to be easy. I have a pocket hotspot I use sometimes when all that's available is ethernet. I don't have WEP enabled, since I use it in places where numerous others might need to connect, and the short-term nature of the spot minimizes security issues.

Goal: I should be able to turn off my home linksys wireless AP, plug in the pocket hotspot, and find the network/get hooked up easily.

Curiosity: This seemed to be the hardest part about getting this all done. Repeated searching at google resulted in... nothing.

This seems a simple question: "I'm at an airport, how do I find out what APs are available?". WTF? None of the tools in the

  1. I found that I could delete everything specific to my own hotspot in ifcfg-eth1 and restart eth1 - and it works. However, what is the selection process for determining what hotspot to use?
  2. You can use iwlist eth1 scanning to see what APs are in range - but still no word on selection.
  3. Here's some info on how I might access something. The problem with this is that you end up with dhclient processes hanging around, and it's just not "clean".
  4. There's Kifi but it looks to have lots of dependencies, and requires Wireless-Tools 27pre26. FC3 comes with pre25, so I'd have to upgrade this and yuck. So, not for me, thank you.