need help setting up wireless on my computer

[Andrew L. Gould]

On Mon, 2 Jan 2006 20:23:30 -0600 (CST)
"Brian John" <brianjohn at fusemail.com> wrote:

> > On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 14:17:17 -0600
> > Brian John <brianjohn at fusemail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Hello,
> > > I just went to compUSA and bought their generic 802.11g PCI
> > > wireless card.  I was able to install it using the windows
> > > drivers at ndis0 (see output from ifconfig below).
> > >
> > > The problem I'm having is I seem to be able to connect, but can't
> > > talk to anything.  I am using WEP encryption and I am not
> > > broadcasting my SSID.  My laptop running windows works flawlessly.
> > >
> > > I've tried this command to connect to the network:
> > > ifconfig ndis0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 255.255.255.255 ssid
> > > Brian wepmode on wepkey <my key> channel 9
> > >
> > > ...and it seems to connect (see output from ifconfig after
> > > connected below).  However, I can't ping my router and I can't
> > > get on the Internet.  Can someone please help me out?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > /Brian
> > >
> > >
> > > output from ifconfig:
> > > -----------------------------------
> > > ifconfig ndis0
> > > ndis0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
> > >         inet 192.168.0.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast
> > > 192.168.0.255 inet6 fe80::20e:2eff:fe6d:4c9d%ndis0 prefixlen 64
> > > scopeid 0x4 ether 00:0e:2e:6d:4c:9d
> > >         media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect
> > >         status: no carrier
> > >         ssid ""
> > >         channel -1 authmode OPEN powersavemode OFF powersavesleep
> > > 100 rtsthreshold 2312 protmode CTS
> > >         wepmode MIXED weptxkey 1
> > >         wepkey 1:40-bit
> > >
> > > output from ifconfig after connected:
> > > --------------------------------------------------------------
> > > ifconfig ndis0
> > > ndis0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
> > >         inet6 fe80::20e:2eff:fe6d:4c9d%ndis0 prefixlen 64 scopeid
> > > 0x4 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffffff broadcast 192.168.0.10
> > >         ether 00:0e:2e:6d:4c:9d
> > >         media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect
> > > (OFDM/54Mbps) status: associated
> > >         ssid Brian 1:Brian
> > >         channel 9 authmode OPEN powersavemode OFF powersavesleep
> > > 100 rtsthreshold 2312 protmode CTS
> > >         wepmode MIXED weptxkey 1
> > >         wepkey 1:40-bit
> > > _______________________________________________
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> >
> > 1. Your netmask should not be 255.255.255.255. Try
> > 255.255.255.0 instead.
> >
> I tried this (255.255.255.0 is the correct netmask) but it still
> doesn't work.
> 
> > 2. Have you configured the computer with gateway and name server
> > information?
> >
> I have not.  I didn't have to do this for the ethernet card that I
> have in the machine and it works, should I have to do it for wireless?
> 
> > 3. When in Windows, did you configure the network manually? Or did
> > you use DHCP?
> >
> I use DHCP in Windows.  This is one of the things I thought might be
> the problem.  Can you tell me how to set this up to use DHCP?
> The command that the FreeBSD handbook told me to use includes
> specifying the IP Address.
> 
> Thanks a million for the help.
> 
> /Brian
> 
> > Best of luck,
> >
> > Andrew
> >
> >
> >

To continue using manual network configuration:

1. Identify the default gateway's IP address in /etc/rc.conf:

     defaultrouter="xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"

2. Add your nameserver's IP address to /etc/resolv.conf:

     nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

If you want to activate DHCP:

1. Eliminate the IP address and netmask from your ifconfig command. The
ifconfig command will still be used to identify the ssid and provide
the wep key.

2. Execute the ifconfig command.  The interface needs to be configured
with the ssid and wep key _before_ using DHCP.

3. Activate the DHCP client:

     dhclient ndis0

Hopefully, this will work for you.

Andrew