Ok here's what I've done do far

1) installed the intel driver using apt-get install 2100-source or similar
2) installed the firmware from sourceforge
3) installed wireless-tools

the wifi monitor in the taskbar gives me signal strength, but I guess encription is not working, since wireless network device properties says, Encryption: not in use



I spent most of my sleeping time last night on installing debian on my dell 8600. I've got the 1280x800 resolution to work, but I just cannot get wifi or cpu scaling

is there a better distro for linux on laptops? or is windowsXP+vmware my best option?

any help would be very much appreciated

You may want to try Kanotix on your laptop, a live, installable CD which has the ipw2100 module and, perhaps, frequency scaling. As a bonus, it is based on pure SID.