Problem with WEP
 

Hi!

I have already achieved to run my D-Link DSL-G122 usb wireless card on my suse 9.0 with kernel 2.4.21, all with ndiswrapper. But there are some issues to be solved, and don't know how to manage them:

1. I actually need to unplug and plug my usb card in order to get it powered up (flashing green LED). It is any possibility to get it powered up on boot?

2. This is the most important issue. I want to use WEP encryption for my WLAN connection to get protected from the outside. I actually use this encryption using Windows XP, because the software that comes with the card has proper drivers for this OS. But I can't use WEP with Linux. The problem is that when I plug the card and it gets powered up, I always must to configure IP and net address for the new interface it appears (wlan0). Using "iwconfig wlan0 key XXXXXXXXXX" this interface must be configured with WEP encryption, mustn't it? Ok! The thing is when I write down this command, the card goes down, Link LED disappears and I only can see some little flash on the ACT led, but I can't recover the card. No connection is possible, but the interface does not disappear... The only thing I can do in this situation is to unplug and plug again the card to recover the Link LED. Obviously, as I can't get WEP into the iface, I can't get connection to my WIFI router and to the Internet.

I would be very grateful if anybody can help me on this annoying issue.
Thanks a lot in advance.

Schn3id3r

I have the same situation and no real solution. I too am only able to run without encrpytion.
I have, however, enabled the MAC Filter Table on the Router to only accept my known PCs.

I do not know how secure/insecure this is, but it must be an improvement on no security. People will be able to "listen in" on your network but should not be able to access it (not without trying anyway).

At least I think that's how it works.

Hi again!

Yep, this is the only way it works. But this is not secure at all (in fact, is really insecure). Someone outside can do the next:

Sniff your connection with some program, get one packet going from or to a PC inside your network to the router, where it really simple to find the MAC address of the origin/destination. After this, it's really quite simple to change your own MAC to the one sniffed. The attacker is know inside your network :( .

For this reason is very important to put WEP encryption at least...

Let's see if someone knows how to solve this issue...

Schn3id3r

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Wireless Networking and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Hi there,

With regards to the WEP key problem have you tried
iwconfig wlan0 key open xxxxxxxxx
or
iwconfig wlan0 key restricted xxxxxxxxx
depending on your config?
Then set the ssid
iwconfig wlan0 essid <ssid name>
and finally
dhclient wlan0
It needs to be in this order and needs to know what type of encryption you have set. Dont ask me about the USB problem - I'll just tell you to upgrade :)
Cheers
Chris

Hi!

Thanks for your answer.

Well, I did not really try on this order. When I plug in my usb wireless card, it actually sets up the wlan0 interface, and automatically finds my SSID. When I try to put the key (I have already tried with 'open' ) it shuts down.

Another issue is dhcp. My router is configured with dhcp server, but i have to configure manually the ip of the wlan interface with ifconfig, putting a valid IP of my net.

Thanks a lot!

David.

Does the syslog provide anything useful after the shutdown? I'd say there's a problem in the networking script but I haven't heard of this before.

I'm assuming you are saying your router IS a DHCP server. You need to check there is no filetering for MAC address or IP on the router that may be preventing you from grabbing an IP address from the router. What happens if you just try and grab an ip address w/out setting the key?

Without a WEP key, only configuring the interface and the default gateway (my router IP), it works fine. I can use Internet without problems. The router gives IP correctly to my other computers running Windows XP, and I have no MAC filtering, only WEP activated.

Some possible answers here

A good idea might be to check the linuxant 16k kernel patches here

Hi again!

I look up information where you have noticed but there is no way. Other suggestions? :(
Thanks anyway!!!

Schn3id3r

Hi !

I think I get it. Try to write down: "iwconfig wlan0 enc open <key>". Think that's the way to the usb card not to shut down. After that, if you don't have already configured essid, that's the moment. I have tried it once (suppose it will continue working...).

Thanks everybody!

Schn3id3r.