So basically I understand the idea of sniffing out the network, but after it has been "sniffed," so to speak, how do I go about joining it? What program makes this possible? Thank you.

Set the SSID and, if needed, any security, and the card will associate with the access point - the wireless LAN.

Assuming your interface is wlan0 and no security is in use:

iwlist wlan0 scan

Let's say you find a tmobile hotspot with that command:

iwconfig wlan0 essid tmobile

Then, you'll want to pull an IP address:

dhcpcd wlan0

Open a browser and you're off.

Thank you for your quick reply.

I have been trying for days to get my rt 2500 wifi to connect to my friends router without any luck. I used: iwlist ra0 scan and got back the message :
Scan completed :
cell 01 -Address: 0015:15:E9:15F:BE
Mode: Managed
essid: "default"
Encryption key : on
Channel: 6
Quality:62/100 Signal level: -102 dBm Noise Level: -193 dBm

Now, I assume that this is my friends router. What commands can I use to connect to the router so I can gain access to the web? I have tried endlessly to get it to connect with KnetworkManager with no luck at all. I don't mind using command lines if I can just access the web. I am very new to wireless networking, as I am sure you can tell. Thank you so much for any help you can give me.

Tim

Looks like you're missing the security piece.

What security is your friend using - WEP or WPA (I assume WEP, since the client is associating with the AP).

Are you *carefully* entering the exect WEP key as hex? I don't see a key in your iwconfig output.

I got it working but not with KNetworkManager. The only way I can connect to the router is with command lines.

iwconfig ra0 mode managed channel 6 key open <yourwepkeyhereifany> essid MyNet
dhclient wlan0

It works . . . I have no idea why KNetworkManager isn't working.