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    #1

    Wireless woes. Startup and security.

    I have an Acer laptop running kubuntu 8.04. There's in internal wifi card and I've got it working on the b43-fwcutter driver. I've also installed WiCD manager which enables me to switch between the wired and wireless networks with ease.

    I started with zero security on the wireless, then added it to the restricted MAC addresses where it still works fine. I've now hidden the network and it still connects OK.

    I have two problems that I would like to resolve if any one is able to help ....

    1. If I have an ethernet cable connected it will boot up and connect automatically but if it is not wired, it will not connect to the wireless on boot. On boot up, the wireless indicator lights up on the laptop but there is no connection, I have to load WiCD, select the drop down for Hidden Networks, enter the Hidden Network ESSID name, click connect, the network then appears in the list and I click connect on that entry. I also select the Auto connection option. It then connects very quickly. I can disconnect, plug the ethernet cable in, connect to wired, disconnect, and reconnect the hidden wireless as it remains on the list. I would like it to automatically connect to the hidden wireless lan on boot up if no cable connection is present.

    2. As soon as I move to WEP encryption it will not connect. My router is set to 128 bit WEP with an ASCII key. I have entered the encryption setting to System Settings > Network Settings > Administrator Mode, but it does not save them when I reboot. I have also added them to WiCD but it does not have a setting to distinguish between 64bit and 128bit, it still won't connect. I have also tried setting the router to 64 bit and it still won't connect. As in point 1, I have it working on hidden and MAC Address control but would like to move onto the WEP 128 bit also. How would I do this and is it possible that my hw/sw doesn't support this level of encryption?
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    #2
    Re: Wireless woes. Startup and security.

    hello.
    did a little searching and it looks like it is just a Network Manager issue. (appears to be fixed in 8.10)
    here is the link I found on this subject.
    http://ubuntu-virginia.ubuntuforums....=934575&page=2
    &quot;Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it&#39;s from Neptune.&quot; ~Noam Chomsky<br /><br />Gigabyte MB, AMD 64x2 6000, 2 Gigs Patriot DDR2, XFX GeForce 8600GT XXX, 400Gig WD SATA HDD &amp; 1TB WD SATA HDD.
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      #3
      Re: Wireless woes. Startup and security.

      Nice one! thanks. I have to dash out now but will try later and let you know how I get on.
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        #4
        Re: Wireless woes. Startup and security.

        One issue solved , one to go .

        Well....I wasn't using Network Manager, I'd installed WiCD. I liked what I read in the article so set about removing WiCD and installing Network Manager but had error messages when trying to install. After a lot of messing about I decided to cut my losses and start again. This was a new installation of Kubuntu so starting afresh was a good thing.

        I've re-installed Kubuntu 8.04.1 and run all the updates. I've assigned a static IP to the wireless and we're back in business!

        I can boot to the wireless and switch to the cable and back without having to open up KnetworkManager. It does it automatically by pulling the cable. This is with my wireless security set to hidden and allowed MAC Address control set.

        As soon as I try encrypting to WEP with ASCII, I cannot connect.
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          #5
          Re: Wireless woes. Startup and security.

          hmm.. so you reinstalled and are just running Network Manager without WiCD?
          just to kind of break this down.... so far all you have set-up is the static IP in Network Settings.

          Have you done any configuring of Network Manager for your wireless connection?
          Make sure you set it up to match your router.
          &quot;Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it&#39;s from Neptune.&quot; ~Noam Chomsky<br /><br />Gigabyte MB, AMD 64x2 6000, 2 Gigs Patriot DDR2, XFX GeForce 8600GT XXX, 400Gig WD SATA HDD &amp; 1TB WD SATA HDD.
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            #6
            Re: Wireless woes. Startup and security.

            On my router I've entered a reserved IP against the wireless MAC address the laptop uses.

            On the laptop I've gone into System settings > Network settings > Administrator mode.
            wlan0 > Configure Interface, selected Manual and added the IP, Netmask, ESSID, and the broadcast and gateway addresses. All these settings match my router. It works as described above.

            When I configure the router for encryption and match it in the Network Settings, the laptop loses connection and won't re-connect.

            eth0 I've left alone and both interfaces are active.

            I've not needed to do anything with KnetworkManager to get this far, and as I have the wireless network hidden, it doesn’t show up in KnetworkManager anyway!

            There's nothing at fault with the router as we have another laptop running Vista and it connects to the router with any combination of security and encryption settings.
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