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#1 2008-09-03 19:00:29

wirenik
Member
Registered: 2008-08-22
Posts: 134

How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

I haven't installed Arch yet, but I'm only a few steps away. I've been researching everything I need to do so that I can avoid encountering too many problems. One question: the Arch wiki says in order to get wireless Internet, I need to grab my wireless card's drivers, check to make sure I've got a functional interface then run

# iwconfig <interface> essid <essid> key <yourwepkey>

...but our network is protected by WPA version 1 (according to iwlist eth1 scan), not WEP. How can I get this working?

Last edited by wirenik (2008-09-05 18:15:52)


moljac024: No one really knows what happens inside /dev/null... it could be a gateway to another universe....
dunc: If it is, the people who live there must be getting pretty annoyed by now with all the junk we send them.

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#2 2008-09-03 19:25:27

tomk
Forum Fellow
From: Ireland
Registered: 2004-07-21
Posts: 9,839

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

With wpa_supplicant. There's a wiki page about that too.

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#3 2008-09-03 19:27:33

SiC
Member
From: Liverpool, England
Registered: 2008-01-10
Posts: 430

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

your best bet is to use netcfg2... go to /etc/network.d and look at the examples there, copy the right example to the /etc/network.d folder with an appropriate name (I usually use wireless) and then edit the details to provide the right configuration.  You can then type in

netcfg2 wireless

and you have access.

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#4 2008-09-03 19:28:29

SiC
Member
From: Liverpool, England
Registered: 2008-01-10
Posts: 430

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

In fact here's the netcfg wiki

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Netcfg

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#5 2008-09-03 19:58:41

Xyne
Administrator/PM
Registered: 2008-08-03
Posts: 6,963
Website

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

*thought this would be another "how do I hack a wireless network" thread when he read the title*


My Arch Linux StuffForum EtiquetteCommunity Ethos - Arch is not for everyone

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#6 2008-09-03 20:33:24

wirenik
Member
Registered: 2008-08-22
Posts: 134

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

Thanks for the quick replies!

SiC wrote:

your best bet is to use netcfg2... go to /etc/network.d and look at the examples there, copy the right example to the /etc/network.d folder with an appropriate name (I usually use wireless) and then edit the details to provide the right configuration.  You can then type in

netcfg2 wireless

and you have access.

Hm, this sounds promising. One (possibly stupid) question: is netcfg included on the install CD, or will I have to find wired internet so I can get it with pacman?

Xyne wrote:

*thought this would be another "how do I hack a wireless network" thread when he read the title*

Hah, no. Just an innocent almost-Arch-user trying to figure out wireless.


moljac024: No one really knows what happens inside /dev/null... it could be a gateway to another universe....
dunc: If it is, the people who live there must be getting pretty annoyed by now with all the junk we send them.

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#7 2008-09-03 21:14:21

Lord Illidan
Member
From: Malta
Registered: 2007-10-25
Posts: 248

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

One other potential route is to install Arch from another distro that is already working with wireless internet, with the use of chroot. http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ins … ting_Linux

I didn't follow that route though, I followed a guide that actually explained how to install gentoo, but the results were the same.

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#8 2008-09-03 21:26:48

skottish
Forum Fellow
From: Here
Registered: 2006-06-16
Posts: 7,942

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

wirenik wrote:

One (possibly stupid) question: is netcfg included on the install CD, or will I have to find wired internet so I can get it with pacman?

Yes, netcfg is included on the newer ISOs.

Oh yes, welcome to the forums wirenik. Enjoy your (terminal) stay.

Last edited by skottish (2008-09-03 21:27:39)

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#9 2008-09-03 22:27:28

wirenik
Member
Registered: 2008-08-22
Posts: 134

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

skottish wrote:

Yes, netcfg is included on the newer ISOs.

Oh yes, welcome to the forums wirenik. Enjoy your (terminal) stay.

Awesome! It sounds like I'm pretty much set to go, then. And thanks for the welcome! I'm addicted to this place already. wink


moljac024: No one really knows what happens inside /dev/null... it could be a gateway to another universe....
dunc: If it is, the people who live there must be getting pretty annoyed by now with all the junk we send them.

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#10 2008-09-04 01:16:18

wizzard
Member
From: PA, US
Registered: 2006-10-17
Posts: 33

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

if you want a graphical tool, both network-manager and wicd are in the repositories and I believe each has a wiki page

+1 for netcfg though, I use it and love it

Rob

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#11 2008-09-04 03:26:34

iphitus
Forum Fellow
From: Melbourne, Australia
Registered: 2004-10-09
Posts: 4,927

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

+1 netcfg

/me hides!

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#12 2008-09-04 05:39:30

NoOneImportant
Member
From: Deep Southern California
Registered: 2007-02-13
Posts: 178

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

it depends on the chipset of the wlan device sometimes; some devices don't even support WPA

for example, ralink chipsets need a binary configuration file (.dat; in order to set the parameters for the device) before attempting to connect

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#13 2008-09-04 06:37:14

iphitus
Forum Fellow
From: Melbourne, Australia
Registered: 2004-10-09
Posts: 4,927

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

NoOneImportant wrote:

it depends on the chipset of the wlan device sometimes; some devices don't even support WPA

for example, ralink chipsets need a binary configuration file (.dat; in order to set the parameters for the device) before attempting to connect

Not the chipset, but driver. A majority do. ralink is the exception, but even for that there's the rt2x00 project which does support it properly.

Last edited by iphitus (2008-09-04 06:37:42)

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#14 2008-09-04 07:27:39

FenDanT
Member
From: Chamoson- Wallis - Switzerland
Registered: 2007-11-13
Posts: 58

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

Hello tongue

Update today of Wicd... Works like a charm with WPA and WEP wifi networking  lol

Lots of problems before this update  roll

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#15 2008-09-04 19:59:00

greyhat.goon
Member
From: SF Bay Area
Registered: 2008-05-05
Posts: 57

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

As mentioned above, I think netcfg is included on the newer iso's.  However, I don't think it is installed by
default,  so make sure you choose to install it during the package selection part of the installation.

On a separate but related note, I can connect to a wpa2 encrypted network via netcfg but wicd just keeps trying to get the ip address
but never connects. I'm using ndiswrapper and have selected it in the wicd setup gui. 

If I turn encryption off, I can connect via wicd.


Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes....Thoreau

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#16 2008-09-05 01:11:22

wirenik
Member
Registered: 2008-08-22
Posts: 134

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

Ok, I decided to install netcfg -- one problem. During package selection selection, I went in and selected sudo and netcfg in addition to the defaults, but when I rebooted they weren't there. I did another install, selected netcfg & sudo, but whenever I returned to the menu they'd deselected themselves. This happened several times. What gives?


moljac024: No one really knows what happens inside /dev/null... it could be a gateway to another universe....
dunc: If it is, the people who live there must be getting pretty annoyed by now with all the junk we send them.

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#17 2008-09-05 03:14:30

Eivuwan
Member
Registered: 2008-06-28
Posts: 30

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

Actually, FenDanT is absolutely correct. I had issues connecting to WPA2 and after I upgraded wicd to version 1.5, it "works like a charm."

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#18 2008-09-05 18:15:31

wirenik
Member
Registered: 2008-08-22
Posts: 134

Re: How do I connect to a WPA-protected network? [SOLVED]

wirenik wrote:

Ok, I decided to install netcfg -- one problem. During package selection selection, I went in and selected sudo and netcfg in addition to the defaults, but when I rebooted they weren't there. I did another install, selected netcfg & sudo, but whenever I returned to the menu they'd deselected themselves. This happened several times. What gives?

Never mind -- netcfg & sudo were installed successfully after all. Well, that solves that problem! Thanks a lot, everyone.


moljac024: No one really knows what happens inside /dev/null... it could be a gateway to another universe....
dunc: If it is, the people who live there must be getting pretty annoyed by now with all the junk we send them.

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