Using another wireless channel with ipw2100

bsander · 09-23-2004, 04:30 AM

Hey all,

I've got a problem when I try to set up a wireless connection to my university's network. I used a howto (can't say which one since i can't post urls because I'm new, but google for "vu wlan howto" and it's the first match) to try and set it up, and as far as I can tell, that all works fine.

However, when starting xsupplicant it hangs and doesn't authenticate. Together with a classmate we figured out that it may be because the university's network is provided at channel 6, while my network card tries to connect through channel 11.

However, the ipw2100 faq states that:

Quote:

2.2. IPW2100 - Why won't iwconfig <interface> channel X set
This command only works within monitor mode. If you would like to use monitor mode, then set:

% iwconfig eth1 mode monitor
% iwconfig eth1 channel X

I have of course tried that, but it seems that monitor mode means that it only receives signals, and doesn't transmit any. Anyway, it doesn't work.

Is there a workaround to change to channel 6 while in managed mode? I vaguely remember reading something about being able to set the channel when loading the drivers. Could that be true, and if so, how do I do that? (I'm kinda new to this whole linux thing ;) ) Or do I just have to wait until the driver implements this feature?

Finally, some iw* commands:

Code:

# iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth1      Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:0D:65:5B:5D:1C
                    ESSID:"VU-Campusnet"
                    Mode:Master
                    Channel:6
                    Bit Rate:1 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:2 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:5.5 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:11 Mb/s
                    Quality=16/100  Signal level=-240 dBm  Noise level=-98 dBm
                    Encryption key:on

# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      IEEE 802.11b  ESSID:""  Nickname:"ipw2100"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
          Bit Rate=0 kb/s   Tx-Power=32 dBm
          Retry:on   RTS thr=2304 B   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:158
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

I'll be at the university the next few hours, so if you need more information I can probably provide you with it fast.

Thanks for any help!

david_ross · 09-23-2004, 01:08 PM

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

gummimann · 10-04-2004, 09:42 AM

Have you got the card working on a AP that doesn`t use encryption. Usually you don`t need to set the channel. What lines do you use to connect?