I have never configured a wireless connection within any linux distrib. This lap top has a 802.11b built in that I don't care to use, but I purchased a PCMCIA Belkin Wireless G that I don't know where to start. The 802.11b built-in works fine, just can't connect to my secure router, hence why I bought a new card.

BELOW IS CONFIG OUTPUTS:
---------------------------------------------
[trombre@localhost ~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset Host Bridge (rev 04)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 04)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 42)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801CAM ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801CAM IDE U100 Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV17 [GeForce4 440 Go] (rev a3)
02:07.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB22/A IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller (rev 42)
02:0a.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1410 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:0b.0 CardBus bridge: Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support (rev 32)
02:0b.1 CardBus bridge: Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support (rev 32)
02:0c.0 System peripheral: Toshiba America Info Systems TC6371AF SmartMedia Controller (rev 03)
02:0d.0 System peripheral: Toshiba America Info Systems SD TypA Controller (rev 03)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Device 001d (rev 01)



[trombre@localhost ~]$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
autofs4 21124 2
sunrpc 155924 3
nf_conntrack_netbios_ns 6272 0
ip6t_REJECT 7296 2
ip6table_filter 6400 1
ip6_tables 14736 1 ip6table_filter
ipv6 230132 19 ip6t_REJECT
fuse 49436 5
dm_multipath 17164 0
uinput 10624 0
orinoco_cs 17412 1
orinoco 36628 1 orinoco_cs
hermes 9600 2 orinoco_cs,orinoco
snd_intel8x0m 16780 0
snd_intel8x0 30876 6
snd_ac97_codec 95264 2 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0
ac97_bus 5504 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_seq_dummy 6660 0
snd_seq_oss 30364 0
snd_seq_midi_event 9600 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 48576 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 10124 3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss 42496 0
snd_mixer_oss 16896 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 65924 5 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
smsc_ircc2 17952 0
snd_timer 22024 3 snd_seq,snd_pcm
e100 33804 0
snd 50616 21 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_o ss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
iTCO_wdt 13732 0
irda 95240 1 smsc_ircc2
crc_ccitt 5760 1 irda
yenta_socket 24972 6
iTCO_vendor_support 6916 1 iTCO_wdt
rsrc_nonstatic 13568 1 yenta_socket
firewire_ohci 22532 0
pcspkr 6272 0
mii 8192 1 e100
firewire_core 35616 1 firewire_ohci
soundcore 9416 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 11016 3 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
crc_itu_t 5760 1 firewire_core
video 20244 0
output 6528 1 video
toshiba_acpi 10904 0
rfkill 11288 2 toshiba_acpi
input_polldev 7176 1 toshiba_acpi
joydev 12736 0
ata_generic 8452 0
pata_acpi 7680 0

[root@localhost etc]# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:00:39:36:AEA
inet addr:10.31.31.94 Bcast:10.31.31.95 Mask:255.255.255.248
inet6 addr: fe80::200:39ff:fe36:aeda/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:241726 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:163530 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:319290762 (304.4 MiB) TX bytes:12247904 (11.6 MiB)

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:02:2D:6A:21:BD
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:11 Base address:0xd100

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:42 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:42 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:4584 (4.4 KiB) TX bytes:4584 (4.4 KiB)


[root@localhost etc]# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

irda0 no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

eth1 IEEE 802.11b ESSID:"" Nickname:"HERMES I"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: None
Bit Rate:2 Mb/s Sensitivity:1/3
Retry limit:4 RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Encryption keyff
Power Managementff
Link Quality=0/92 Signal level=134/153 Noise level=134/153
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

First, turn off router security and see if you can connect. If so, then post information regarding security setup so someone can help you.

I see an Atheros chipset in lspci output. These normally use madwifi drivers, but I didn't see this in your lsmod output.

The eth1 interface could be the built-in wireless NIC. You'll have to pick one or the other and disable the one you don't want. Having two NICs on the same subnet will be a problem.

Just curious as to why you think the built-in NIC won't work?

The built-in is a wireless "B" and I'm using a wireless "G" router. The builtin works on unsecured networks, but I'm unfamiliar with installing drivers as I am a newby. Guess I'll need to read up on installing madwifi drivers.