The least I can say is that my last attempts to get Linux working on my Dell D600 hasn't been too successful. Although the system install went without any problems, the wireless connection is giving me some troubles.

The laptop is equipped with a TrueMobile 1300 mini PCI and the router I have been using is a NetGear 814v2.

Before I go into the details, I must admit that I have probably damaged two routers during my attempts. I did not think that it was possible but after I tried to connect, the router started to drop the connection after 3 to 5 minutes and resetting it to the factory default did not help. I have a Mac connected to that same router that confirms the problem. I believe I am going to need a new one to keep on trying after I get some good advice ;-)

Back to the manipulation then....

I have tried both ndiswrapper and driverloader from Linuxant and the latter being the most recent attempt; I will focus on my experience with it.

First I downloaded the latest drivers from the Dell web site and unzipped it on my machine... There are several versions of the driver in the package under AR and IR directories. I believe I tried both without much success.

I downloaded DriverLoader from LinuxAnt.com and followed the instructions carefully. Once the driver is loaded, they request that you use the configuration tool provided with the distribution, in my case YAST.

The tool finds the card after the driver is loaded, although it does not fill out any information. Browsing through the settings it even tells me that it found the DNS server information and request to modify the config files.

Leaving the configuration I get back to my shell and try iwconfig. I can see that the wlan0 interface is up and that it has an IP address from the router. Unfortunately I cannot connect through it. Moreover it seems that Linux is trying to access the internet through this interface only and I can no longer browse the net without first taking the interface down...

Well, it was a long explanation and fortunately it is somewhat clear. My questions are the following:

- has someone successfully configured that same card and can you give me some detailed information?
- how can I specify what in what order the interface should be used and specify a time out in case one isn’t responding
- has anyone experienced the same problem on the router side (dropping connection)
- At last, supposing that I get things working, how can you switch between wireless network in an easy way and possibly scan for available ESSID?


Thanks in advance for the help

David