No Wireless Connection, Fedor 15 n00b!!

jibust · #1 19th July 2011, 05:25 PM

I decided to give linux a try on an old laptop I had at my house. It's a Dell Inspiron (don't remember the model, will update as soon as I get home). Installation was flawless and extremely fast, but I cannot connect to my house's wireless network. I had exactly the same problem with Ubuntu, which is why I tried Fedora. I had installed Ubuntu over a year back and it had worked flawleslly, but I had to loan the pc to a friend so I reinstalled Windows.

Wireless drivers are Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 which should be included in the kernel. I am a complete Linux/Fedora n00b, just want to start learning.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

José

stoat · #2 19th July 2011, 06:18 PM

Consider a simple on/off switch for wireless somewhere on the computer (it happens all the time), a BIOS setting, or rfkill. Also make sure the firmware package was installed. Try connecting by wire and upgrading all packages to the latest versions.

jibust · #3 19th July 2011, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoat

Consider a simple on/off switch for wireless somewhere on the computer (it happens all the time), a BIOS setting, or rfkill. Also make sure the firmware package was installed. Try connecting by wire and upgrading all packages to the latest versions.

Actually let me explain my problem in more detail. My pc does identify wireless connections but when I try connecting to my home network, it never connects, it just keeps showing the wep password dialog box. I have made sure the password is correct, but as soon as I type it a few minutes go by, and it pops up again. My network is secured with a 128 bit hex password.

By the way, loving the almost instant response to the questions. Now this is real support!

Thanks!!!!

stoat · #4 19th July 2011, 08:39 PM

Some things to try for that (no promises)..

If there already is a connection for that network in NetworkManager (Right-click NM icon, Edit Connections, Wireless), then delete it and try again.

Use a "normal" alphanumeric ASCII passphrase. Even though they are supposed to be okay, try a passphrase that does not have spaces or special characters.

Instead of entering the ASCII passphrase, try entering the hexadecimal key that it gets converted into. An easy way to get the key(s) is to look in your router setup.

Try WPA encryption. It's better anyway. A teenager can get that WEP key in a minute using free software.

If your SSID is hidden, don't do that. Hiding it doesn't do anything useful anyway. That same teenager can get the SSID from packet traffic. Your normal neighbors will only look at it in their lists of available networks.

jibust · #5 19th July 2011, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoat

Some things to try for that (no promises)..

If there already is a connection for that network in NetworkManager (Right-click NM icon, Edit Connections, Wireless), then delete it and try again.

Use a "normal" alphanumeric ASCII passphrase. Even though they are supposed to be okay, try a passphrase that does not have spaces or special characters.

Instead of entering the ASCII passphrase, try entering the hexadecimal key that it gets converted into. An easy way to get the key(s) is to look in your router setup.

Try WPA encryption. It's better anyway. A teenager can get that WEP key in a minute using free software.

If your SSID is hidden, don't do that. Hiding it doesn't do anything useful anyway. That same teenager can get the SSID from packet traffic. Your normal neighbors will only look at it in their lists of available networks.

Thanks for your suggestions stoat.

I'm actually using WEP because WPA is not supported by the Xbox, but I'll just do a wired connection for the Xbox. As soon as I get home I will do the changes and let you know.

450Roost · #6 5th October 2011, 03:46 AM

I'm the newest of the noobs, I am running fedora off a cd right now and wired in, I am in the network connection manager trying to setup my wireless, where can I get my ssid?

stoat · #7 5th October 2011, 04:16 AM

When everything is working right, and if your router is broadcasting it's SSID, then you should see it listed in the available networks when you left-click the NetworkManager panel icon. If you see networks just not yours, then turn on SSID broadcasting in the router. If you don't see any networks, then you may need to do something such as install a wireless driver. It's not exactly unheard of. Another indication of that state of affairs is no wireless interface listed in the output of this terminal command...

Code:

ifconfig

If you think that is the case, then try to identify the chipset of the wireless device. One of these may do that...

Code:

lspci
lsusb

450Roost · #8 5th October 2011, 04:53 AM

yes stoat, I think you are correct.

ipconfig returns (or do I say output?)
bash: ipconfig: cmmand not found...

I am going to finish the install, I have quetions about that that I am going to go search for. I'll be back if I can't figure it out. Thanks!

stoat · #9 5th October 2011, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 450Roost

ipconfig returns (or do I say output?)
bash: ipconfig: cmmand not found...

It's ifconfig, not ipconfig. And if lspci lists a "Network controller", then you should post that information to identify the wireless chipset. If lspci does not list it, then post the lsusb stuff.