Finding Hotel Networks...

John K. Herreshoff · External Since: Jan 16, 2007 Posts: 68

So I'm in the middle of North Dakota at a reasonably priced motel with my
trusty laptop running slackware-12.2. I ask the clerk about logging on,
and she says just turn on your browser and click. I ask about a network
name, and I get a blank stare. yada-yada-yada for an hour. Wireless
Assistant for KDE does not do a thing: cannot find anything.
Putting 'any' in the ESSID finds nothing. I finally hit on 'ifconfig wlan0
up' and then Wireless Assistant is able to scan, and finds the network /
name. I get connected, finally. If I put the correct ESSID in the config
file, I also connect that way.

Is there a better method? I've sure learned tons hauling the laptop around
the country, but there has to be a better way.

John.
--
Using the Laptop in Dickinson, ND

Res · External Since: Jul 16, 2004 Posts: 89

wicd

On Thu, 15 Oct 2009, John K. Herreshoff wrote:

> So I'm in the middle of North Dakota at a reasonably priced motel with my
> trusty laptop running slackware-12.2. I ask the clerk about logging on,
> and she says just turn on your browser and click. I ask about a network
> name, and I get a blank stare. yada-yada-yada for an hour. Wireless
> Assistant for KDE does not do a thing: cannot find anything.
> Putting 'any' in the ESSID finds nothing. I finally hit on 'ifconfig wlan0
> up' and then Wireless Assistant is able to scan, and finds the network /
> name. I get connected, finally. If I put the correct ESSID in the config
> file, I also connect that way.
>
> Is there a better method? I've sure learned tons hauling the laptop around
> the country, but there has to be a better way.
>
> John.
>

--
Res

Time to change the Australian Data Cable and Wiring Laws.
Help get the "Digital Data Exemption" back so we can legally make
ethernet cables. http://forums.ausics.net/./viewtopic.php?f=1&t=61

Henrik Carlqvist · External Since: Aug 07, 2005 Posts: 776

"John K. Herreshoff" <nope.DeleteThis@not.here> wrote:
> Is there a better method?

Install wicd, it is included in the extra directory of your Slackware 12.2
disc.

regards Henrik
--
The address in the header is only to prevent spam. My real address is:
hc3(at)poolhem.se Examples of addresses which go to spammers:
root@localhost postmaster@localhost

John K. Herreshoff · External Since: Jan 16, 2007 Posts: 68

Henrik Carlqvist wrote:

> "John K. Herreshoff" <nope DeleteThis @not.here> wrote:
>> Is there a better method?
>
> Install wicd, it is included in the extra directory of your Slackware 12.2
> disc.
>
> regards Henrik

WICD? That's a thought, but my CD is only 1500 miles away. I'll google for
the source and build it. Thanks for the tip, guys.

John.

--
Using the Laptop in Dickinson, ND

Dan C · External Since: Nov 26, 2006 Posts: 657

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:58:10 -0500, John K. Herreshoff wrote:

> Henrik Carlqvist wrote:
>
>> "John K. Herreshoff" <nope DeleteThis @not.here> wrote:
>>> Is there a better method?
>>
>> Install wicd, it is included in the extra directory of your Slackware
>> 12.2 disc.
>>
>> regards Henrik
>
> WICD? That's a thought, but my CD is only 1500 miles away. I'll google
> for the source and build it. Thanks for the tip, guys.

No need to build anything. As was stated, it's an official Slackware
package in /extra. Here's a link to it from an official mirror, just
download and install:

http://slackware.mirrors.tds.net/pub/slackware/slackware-13.0/extra/wicd/

--
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he garotted another passing Liberal.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/

Old Man · External Since: Aug 11, 2009 Posts: 4

John K. Herreshoff wrote:

> So I'm in the middle of North Dakota at a reasonably priced motel

Ouch! Whatever you did to deserve that, I bet you won't do it again.

--
Old Man

John K. Herreshoff · External Since: Jan 16, 2007 Posts: 68

Old Man wrote:

> John K. Herreshoff wrote:
>
>> So I'm in the middle of North Dakota at a reasonably priced motel
>
> Ouch! Whatever you did to deserve that, I bet you won't do it again.
>

Hell, No. I'm now in Montana Wink

--
Using the Laptop in Havre, Montana

emmel · External Since: Mar 31, 2009 Posts: 11

Thus Res spoke:

> wicd
>
> On Thu, 15 Oct 2009, John K. Herreshoff wrote:
>
>> So I'm in the middle of North Dakota at a reasonably priced motel with my
>> trusty laptop running slackware-12.2. I ask the clerk about logging on,
>> and she says just turn on your browser and click. I ask about a network
>> name, and I get a blank stare. yada-yada-yada for an hour. Wireless
>> Assistant for KDE does not do a thing: cannot find anything.
>> Putting 'any' in the ESSID finds nothing. I finally hit on 'ifconfig wlan0
>> up' and then Wireless Assistant is able to scan, and finds the network /
>> name. I get connected, finally. If I put the correct ESSID in the config
>> file, I also connect that way.
>>
>> Is there a better method? I've sure learned tons hauling the laptop around
>> the country, but there has to be a better way.
>>
>> John.

Actually wpa_supplicant does a good enough job. Just use wpa_gui.

John K. Herreshoff · External Since: Jan 16, 2007 Posts: 68

emmel wrote:

> Thus Res spoke:
>
>> wicd
>>
>> On Thu, 15 Oct 2009, John K. Herreshoff wrote:
>>
>>> So I'm in the middle of North Dakota at a reasonably priced motel with
>>> my
>>> trusty laptop running slackware-12.2. I ask the clerk about logging on,
>>> and she says just turn on your browser and click. I ask about a network
>>> name, and I get a blank stare. yada-yada-yada for an hour. Wireless
>>> Assistant for KDE does not do a thing: cannot find anything.
>>> Putting 'any' in the ESSID finds nothing. I finally hit on 'ifconfig
>>> wlan0 up' and then Wireless Assistant is able to scan, and finds the
>>> network /
>>> name. I get connected, finally. If I put the correct ESSID in the
>>> config file, I also connect that way.
>>>
>>> Is there a better method? I've sure learned tons hauling the laptop
>>> around the country, but there has to be a better way.
>>>
>>> John.
>
> Actually wpa_supplicant does a good enough job. Just use wpa_gui.

I'm using the setup that came with slackware. rc.inet1 starts things up,
and goes looking for a DHCP server. When none is found, it shuts down the
wireless (wlan0). If I simply do an "ifconfig wlan0 up" it starts up the
wireless again, and the Wireless Assistant can browse the ether and find me
a connection. At home I simply goof with rc.wireless.conf and tell it
where to look and what the password is.

John.
--
Using the Laptop in Havre, Montana

John K. Herreshoff · External Since: Jan 16, 2007 Posts: 68

John K. Herreshoff wrote:

> Old Man wrote:
>
>> John K. Herreshoff wrote:
>>
>>> So I'm in the middle of North Dakota at a reasonably priced motel
>>
>> Ouch! Whatever you did to deserve that, I bet you won't do it again.
>>
>
> Hell, No. I'm now in Montana Wink

>

And now closure: Last night I was in a small Oregon burg in a motel that
had wireless. I could see but not connect, so I broke out the wicd, did
the install, and I still could not connect... Until I asked the motel to
reset there wifi. wicd should be part of slackware as it is really slick.

John.

--
Using the Laptop in Spokane, Washington

Henrik Carlqvist · External Since: Aug 07, 2005 Posts: 776

"John K. Herreshoff" <nope.DeleteThis@not.here> wrote:
> wicd should be part of slackware as it is really slick.

Wicd is really great for laptops which switch between different wired and
wireless networks. However, for stationary desktops I really prefer the
Slackware way of /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf. So IMHO the wicd package is best
distributed in /extra where it currently is included in Slackware.

regards Henrik
--
The address in the header is only to prevent spam. My real address is:
hc3(at)poolhem.se Examples of addresses which go to spammers:
root@localhost postmaster@localhost

john · External Since: Nov 11, 2005 Posts: 66

On Oct 22, 1:53 am, Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.Carlqv....TakeThisOut@deadspam.com>
wrote:
> "John K. Herreshoff" <n....TakeThisOut@not.here> wrote:
>
> > wicd should be part of slackware as it is really slick.
>
> Wicd is really great for laptops which switch between different wired and
> wireless networks. However, for stationary desktops I really prefer the
> Slackware way of /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf. So IMHO the wicd package is best
> distributed in /extra where it currently is included in Slackware.
>
> regards Henrik
> --
> The address in the header is only to prevent spam. My real address is:
> hc3(at)poolhem.se Examples of addresses which go to spammers:
> root@localhost postmaster@localhost

I had zero luck getting my wife's laptop to connect to the router
using Slackware until someone suggested wicd.
Having it installed by default would save the wireless newcomer a lot
of time, and not hurt anything. The Slackware manual does not touch
on the subject BTW. So I had no way of knowing it even existed until
someone mentioned it here.

IMO of course.

John Culleton

Henrik Carlqvist · External Since: Aug 07, 2005 Posts: 776

"john@wexfordpress.com" <john.RemoveThis@wexfordpress.com> wrote:
> On Oct 22, 1:53 am, Henrik Carlqvist <Henrik.Carlqv....RemoveThis@deadspam.com>
> wrote:
>> Wicd is really great for laptops which switch between different wired and
>> wireless networks. However, for stationary desktops I really prefer the
>> Slackware way of /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf. So IMHO the wicd package is best
>> distributed in /extra where it currently is included in Slackware.

> I had zero luck getting my wife's laptop to connect to the router
> using Slackware until someone suggested wicd.
> Having it installed by default would save the wireless newcomer a lot
> of time, and not hurt anything.

Wicd is great for laptops with maybe only one or a few users logging into
X and pointing and clicking to setup their network configuration without
even having to be root. However, for a web server which might not even
have X installed wicd is not the way to go.

Maybe a good compromise would be to install wicd by default and then add
an extra choice to /sbin/netconfig. The choices would then be something
like:

"static IP" "Use a static IP address to configure ethernet" \
"DHCP" "Use a DHCP server to configure ethernet" \
"loopback" "Set up a loopback connection (modem or no net)" \
"wicd" "Give users a GUI to change between different networks"

regards Henrik
--
The address in the header is only to prevent spam. My real address is:
hc3(at)poolhem.se Examples of addresses which go to spammers:
root@localhost postmaster@localhost