Wireless network setup problems [SOLVED]

spektre · 2009-07-04 10:06:15

Hi!
I'm trying to set up the wireless network here, and have been for the last couple of days. I'm following the Arch Linux Wireless Setup guide http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless_Setup and I've come to the point where I should have a connection, but I don't. I can't get an IP from dhcpcd and setting it to static doesn't help me. Wired network with dhcp works fine, but I can't connect to the router on 192.168.1.1 as stated by my ISP or any other address, I shouldn't have to as the essid and key seems to work but it's suspicious.
Be advised: This is the first time I'm in contact with wireless networking, I've been using wired since the dawn of time.

Running Arch i686 on a Compaq CQ60 laptop
Router is a Xavi 5258

These are the steps I've made:

# lspci
07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

// After installing madwifi:
# modprobe ath5k

// It's down from the start so:
# ifconfig wlan0 up

// Set up essid and key as stated by my ISP
# iwconfig wlan0 essid "B2_private_AF" key s:B2_private_AF

// Check for access points:
# iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:01:38:A6:5A:B0
                    Channel:11
                    Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
                    Quality=58/70  Signal level=-52 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"B2_private_AF"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s
                    Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s
                              36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
                    Extra:tsf=00000008a1f48854
                    Extra: Last beacon: 40ms ago
                    IE: Unknown: 000D42325F707269766174655F4146
                    IE: Unknown: 010582848B962C
                    IE: Unknown: 03010B
                    IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                    IE: Unknown: 32080C1218243048606C

// The setup so far:
# ifconfig wlan0
wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:24:2C:5E:41:EA  
          inet6 addr: fe80::224:2cff:fe5e:41ea/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:576 (576.0 b)

# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"B2_private_AF"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:01:38:A6:5A:B0   
          Bit Rate=1 Mb/s   Tx-Power=27 dBm   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:4232-5F70-7269-7661-7465-5F41-46   Security mode:open
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=55/70  Signal level=-55 dBm  Noise level=-99 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

// Alright! Let's get that IP then!
# dhcpcd wlan0
dhcpcd: version 5.0.4 starting
dhcpcd: wlan0: broadcasting for a lease
dhcpcd: timed out

// Very well then, let's set it up static style
# ifconfig wlan0 192.168.1.2
# route add default gw 192.168.1.1
// This results in nothing other than breaking all connections until I shut down wlan0.

I have some thoughts:
Is the key right? How do you know if it's wrong?
Why can't I connect to the router on any of the standard IP:s nor the one given to me by my ISP? Hardware error?
Is my eth0 dhcp connection in some way conflicting? I've tried the whole set up from a fresh boot with the wire disconnected.
Have I confused something in the stage of installing and modprobing madwifi -> ath5k? Seems like the card is supported but I don't know how far into the set up process you can go with an unsupported card.

Heh-heh, that's my post, sorry for the length of it but I don't want to leave something out that could've been useful in troubleshooting.

Thanks in advance for any help, be it simple pointers or complete walkthroughs.

Edit: There was something, somewhere about country codes, but it said it's probably not an issue. Could it cause any trouble? I live in Sweden.

Last edited by spektre (2009-07-04 20:48:58)

R00KIE · 2009-07-04 10:15:35

Did you check on your router if you have association by mac address turned on, and if it is does it allow the mac address of your wireless card to associate?

spektre · 2009-07-04 10:54:18

I just found out that it's a modem and not a router. The only way I can interact with the modem is to hit it, I can't access it through the network at all.
I suspect that my ISP denies me access to it so I don't mess it up, they keep that priviledge to themselves.

spektre · 2009-07-04 11:15:31

I solved it!

I had to change my eth0's IP to 192.168.1.2 before I could access the modem!
The key was not at all the one my ISP specified, it was a 10-digit number. NICE.

After I set wlan0 up with that key dhcpcd worked flawlessly and I'm writing this post through my wireless network!

Now, how do I mark the thread as solved?

tomk · 2009-07-04 13:24:57

Click 'Edit' in the first post, and add [Solved] to the topic.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-07-04 10:06:15

Wireless network setup problems [SOLVED]

#2 2009-07-04 10:15:35

Re: Wireless network setup problems [SOLVED]

#3 2009-07-04 10:54:18

Re: Wireless network setup problems [SOLVED]

#4 2009-07-04 11:15:31

Re: Wireless network setup problems [SOLVED]

#5 2009-07-04 13:24:57

Re: Wireless network setup problems [SOLVED]

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