Newbie questions on Linux wifi
I've got a Thinkpad X61s loaded with Debian sidux and am able to connect to my wireless router AP. So my questions are, in effect, where do I go from here?
a) I've got AT&T wireless service, and am told that when I happen to be within a hotspot location, I should be able to scan for APs and identify the AT&T netork as "attwifi". Is the procedure to head out to a hot spot, scan for this attwifi AP, and then set up a profile for that network? That is, I'd like to be able to connect with wifi from console or terminal.
b) Will that one profile serve for all AT&T hotspots across the country? Is there anyway to find out the location of hotspots without actually being there? If I plan to travel to Podunk Hollow, for example, can I know in advance there's a hotspot in Joe's Barber Shop?
c) I scanned for hotspots using a gui utility named "wifi-radar". Can I do the same thing from command line? That is, what commands would be used to 1) scan for hotspots, 2) define their profiles, c) connect to one?
d) When I boot with a CAT5 cable connected to my router, I find that eth0 is UP and obtains an IP address from it, while the wlan0 interface is DOWN. To connect by wifi, I have to issue the commands # ifconfig eth0 down and # ifconfig wlan0 up. This works, and I prefer a command line, but not sure if this is the proper way to do it.
e) How would I reverse priority so that when I boot wlan0 starts in an UP condition, and eth0 is down. Do I simply reverse the order of the stanzas in /etc/network/interfaces ?
read more and respond »Posted 5 years ago by Haines Brown in Wireless Networking
