Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

magyckleo · 2011-01-18 16:45:42

This problem has me stumped.

Me and another friend have laptops but can't connect to our school's wireless network (It's open, it doesn't require any WEP code), I use Arch and he uses OpenSUSE both with KDE. However, when I switch to Windows 7 on my lap I can connect to the wireless, and other people with Windows laptops have no problems.

Here's another strange thing: Back home I have a wireless network that requires a WEP code, and I can connect there.

I know I should look at the Wiki and do a google search first, so I tried looking for anything that could help me, but I really have no idea what is going on here.

Did a pacman -Syu a couple of minutes ago and rebooted so I have the latest version of NetworkManager and KDE and... well, everything.

Please help.

Last edited by magyckleo (2011-01-18 17:01:53)

skunktrader · 2011-01-18 16:48:41

Unlikely anybody will be able to suggest anything without knowing what wifi chip your laptop uses

Inxsible · 2011-01-18 16:49:38

In all that emphasizing, you haven't really mentioned if you get any errors or not !!

When you search for ESSIDs, do you atleast see your school's ESSID? How are you trying to connect to it ? When you try to connect to it, does it give you any errors? How does it fail?

magyckleo · 2011-01-18 16:50:22

My bad.

I use a Broadcom Chipset with the b43 driver.

skywarp · 2011-01-18 16:53:16

TRY READING THE WIKI FIRST AND DON'T USE CAPS TO INDICATE WHAT WORKS IN WINDOWS.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless

Not the nicest way to ask for help, especially when you don't provide any other info other than it works in Windows and not in Archlinux.

magyckleo · 2011-01-18 16:53:59

Sorry if my post lacks some info. The thing is I'm a newbie so I don't know which info is relevant or not.

Ok, I use NetworkManager and the KDE applet to manage my internet connections.

Well, as to how it fails it pretty much doesn't connect at all. I only see a red circle with a red line across it. It does, however, see the wireless network. I click on it and it's supposed to connect but simply doesn't.

What other info would you need? I'm fully cooperative on this matter and willing to try and learn whatever I need to get this working.

Varg · 2011-01-18 16:59:09

Other networks work fine ?
I never got networkmanager to work properly with my wireless. I use wicd without any problem even for my schools network with WEP enterprise encryption. It even connects faster then my windows install.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wicd

magyckleo · 2011-01-18 17:04:37

@Varg: I only go from my home to school. At home I have a wireless network that requires a WEP key, and everything works fine there. At school the wireless network doesn't require a wep key, and here is where I have problems connecting.

I removed the caps from the title and my description. I apologize for them. Guess I got carried away with desperation. Sorry.

skywarp · 2011-01-18 17:11:18

I haven't used KDE in a while, since version 4.1 or 4.2. I had similar trouble with it and had to switch to Wicd or manually bringing the interface up. As long as you're not partial to KDE's plasma widget for Networkmanager then I would try Varg's suggestion. Wicd has always worked for me. Arch's Netcfg also works well, but requires manually creating profiles for each new network. There's a front end for Netcfg called Netcfg Easy Wireless LAN that's available in the AUR, but I've never tried it.

magyckleo · 2011-01-18 17:13:12

@skywarp: Thanks for the help. I did have a read at that page in the wiki when I was first setting up my Archlinux a few months ago. Everything was working fine about a month ago before I stopped going to school cause of winter break. But now I'm back and it's pretty strange that the school's open wireless network is not working with my laptop anymore.

I'll give Wicd a try. I'll let you know the result. Thanks for your help guys.

Last edited by magyckleo (2011-01-18 17:15:03)

skywarp · 2011-01-18 17:19:33

That is strange that it worked before and not now. It's just a guess, but I've never been the biggest fan of Networkmanager's ability to manage wireless networks. Any updates to Networkmanager while you were on break? KDE's plasma widget use to have trouble with the way it interfaced with Networkmanager, but those issues have probably been solved by now. Again, just a guess, but I would say Networkmanager is your culprit. Since moving away from it a year ago I haven't had any problems.

magyckleo · 2011-01-18 17:51:45

You're probably right Skywarp. I had just updated a few days before going back to school so there's probably something new to NetworkManager that messes up any interaction I have with my school's wireless.

Just finished setting up Wicd and I could connect with no problems at all. I'll test it all day and see how it works. But so far so good.

It's a shame that the NetworkManager applet has such a bug. It's very aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but I much prefer to have my PC work.

Thanks guys! I'll edit the title and put it as solved by the end of the day if the wireless doesn't give me any trouble.

magyckleo · 2011-01-18 21:41:42

Wicd works, but something I noticed is that my school's wifi network is transmitting on several channels. I see a lot of networks named the same but in different channels. It'll ocassionally disconnect from one of them so I have to click on the other channel's to get connected again. Is there a way to make this automatic?

magyckleo · 2011-01-19 02:33:59

Ok, this here is really anoying. Wicd at least connects, but constantly disconnects and I have to click on the icon, then on my school's wireless network and hope it'll connect and not give me an error that says "Cannot establish IP". I read the Wicd wiki page and it recommends to use the dhclient program instead of dhcpcd, but using it makes no difference. How can I get my wireless network to stay connected?

Varg · 2011-01-19 07:54:46

I've noticed the same with my school's network. Normally wicd should automatically try to reconnect to the network, if not, check it under preferences.

magyckleo · 2011-01-19 21:18:23

@Varg: I do have them all checked to auto-reconnect. But it keeps giving me trouble when reconnecting. Thankfully I have access to a wired connection when I get to my office (I work at my school too) so having no internet is not a problem, but when I'm in classes it's really annoying to have my wireless fall and reconnect over and over again. I can't get it to stay connected.

.:B:. · 2011-01-20 09:17:27

Does it work on Ubuntu? You don't need to install, just use a Live CD/DVD.

And yes, that's a serious question. And you should find out how your school's network has been set up.

magyckleo · 2011-01-20 18:47:18

@B: I was wondering that a while ago... I'll check it later when I get back at my office. I have an Ubuntu LiveCD there. I know it doesn't work in OpenSUSE cause I have another partition with that OS on my laptop and have problems with it too.

As to how the network is setup in my school I'll go and check with IT. Right now it's working and hasn't given me problems, guess it has a mind of its own, hehehe. Thanks.

Last edited by magyckleo (2011-01-20 18:50:59)

skywarp · 2011-01-20 22:00:32

Before you mentioned your connection at home working fine when you Networkmanager. Does your home connection drop off with Wicd just like it does at your school?

ConnorBehan · 2011-01-21 03:49:38

Since no one else has mentioned it yet, I probably should. The most universal way to connect to a wireless network in Linux is to run:

iwconfig <interface_name> essid <network_name>
dhcpcd <interface_name>

The interface name will show up if you run "iwconfig" without any arguments and is usually something like "wlan0". Even when all other network daemons break, this method usually works.

magyckleo · 2011-01-24 19:23:08

@skywarp: Nope, my home wireless connection works fine with Wicd... I think it's even faster.

@ConnorBehan: Thanks, that usually works fine in my school but sometimes I have trouble with dhcpcd assigning an IP and, like with Wicd, it doesn't stay connected after a while it hands. I found this out today so I'm thinking it has something to do with how the wireless @ my school is setup.

Haven't seen if my school's wireless hangs in Ubuntu like .:B:. suggested. I'll try it today.

magyckleo · 2011-01-26 17:45:22

@.:B:.: My connection works in Ubuntu! That's strange, so there's something wrong with how I have my Arch setup? If so, what?

whatshisname · 2011-01-26 18:30:11

ConnorBehan wrote:

Since no one else has mentioned it yet, I probably should. The most universal way to connect to a wireless network in Linux is to run:
iwconfig <interface_name> essid <network_name>
dhcpcd <interface_name>
The interface name will show up if you run "iwconfig" without any arguments and is usually something like "wlan0". Even when all other network daemons break, this method usually works.

Here, here! After networkmanager completely foo-barred all my wireless connections a couple of months ago, I just started connecting manually everywhere as suggested here.

One note about the above:

You may first have to bring the wireless interface up with:

ifconfig <interface_name> up

Also, if "dhcpcd" doesn't give you an ip, try "dhclient".

drexl · 2011-01-26 18:35:21

I had similar issues with multiple access points using the same essid, the way I got it to work with wicd is I went into the routers admin panel and wrote down the dns server address' then pluged them into the global dns servers I then checked use static ip and gave myself an ip in a high range as to not interfere with other people. for netmask I use 255.255.255.0 and for the gateway is use 192.168.0.1

Last edited by drexl (2011-01-26 18:36:19)

magyckleo · 2011-01-26 23:55:34

@Drexl: }Could you elaborate more on "went to routers admin panel and wrote down the dns server address then pluged them into the global dns servers"? How do you access the router's admin panel? What information do I need to do that?

Arch Linux

#1 2011-01-18 16:45:42

Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#2 2011-01-18 16:48:41

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#3 2011-01-18 16:49:38

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#4 2011-01-18 16:50:22

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#5 2011-01-18 16:53:16

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#6 2011-01-18 16:53:59

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#7 2011-01-18 16:59:09

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#8 2011-01-18 17:04:37

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#9 2011-01-18 17:11:18

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#10 2011-01-18 17:13:12

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#11 2011-01-18 17:19:33

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#12 2011-01-18 17:51:45

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#13 2011-01-18 21:41:42

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#14 2011-01-19 02:33:59

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#15 2011-01-19 07:54:46

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#16 2011-01-19 21:18:23

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#17 2011-01-20 09:17:27

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#18 2011-01-20 18:47:18

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#19 2011-01-20 22:00:32

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#20 2011-01-21 03:49:38

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#21 2011-01-24 19:23:08

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#22 2011-01-26 17:45:22

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#23 2011-01-26 18:30:11

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#24 2011-01-26 18:35:21

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

#25 2011-01-26 23:55:34

Re: Wifi not working with Arch, but it works in windows 7.

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