[WYLUG-HELP] wireless lan notebook card installation

[Mike Goodman]

Simon, the first statement at your link is :


> Important Update
> Ralink has put their source code under the GPL. The rt2x00 Open Source
> Project has picked up the code and is in the process of developing a
> stable and feature rich Linux driver for wireless 802.11b and 802.11g
> cards that are based on the Ralink rt2400 and rt2500 chipsets.
> 
> This pretty much obsoletes this HOWTO. I tried their lates CVS version
> and it worked out of the box (2005-01-05). So please go to:
> http://rt2400.sourceforge.net and follow the instructions there


which is exactly what I did in the first place, except mine was rt2500
instead of 2400.

Sean, it seems FC4 has an equivalent interface.

There is a GUI configuration in FC4 called "Wireless Device
Configuration" with four tabs across the top. In order, with contents:

"General"
nickname wlan0; checked is "activate device when computer starts",
"automatically obtain IP address settings with dhcp" and
"automatically obtain DNS settings form provider"

"Route"
all blank under three headings, Destination Network, Prefix(Netmask) and
Gateway, and there are add, edit and delete options.

"Hardware Devices"
wlan0 (RaLink Ralink RT2500 802.11 Cardbus Reference card)
device alias number is unchecked and there is a checked option
Bind to MAC address 00:0e:2e:6b:ed:55

finally, "Wireless Settings"
Mode: Managed
Network Name (SSID) with auto button checked
Channel 6
Transmit Rate auto
Key 0x

The setting Channel under the "Wireless Settings" tab may be wrong, the
howto said set it to your AP's channel and I don't even know what an AP
is, let alone how to find its channel. Guidance here about whether I
need to learn more would be appreciated. The simpler the better. My aim
is to have a portable box working, not to become a wireless guru.

Finally, in those settings, Key0x. It is to do with a security setting
and, again, not something I understand. I recognise the importance of
security. However, I wanted to get the thing working with something like
default settings then ask for advice about strapping it down later.
However, if I have to set this properly first, or if there is a null
setting I should use first, please advise.

Under the "Hardware" tab in Network Configuration (part of the same gui
interface) on clicking "edit" I found "Device wlan0" and "IRQ Unknown"
which looks worrying to me. Is this where the problem lies? Or a red
herring?

I found nothing else which looked pertinent, so please advise if I
haven't looked hard enough.

TIA, Mike
-- 
"Documentation is like sex: when it is good, it is very, very good; and
when it is bad, it is better than nothing."
-- Dick Brandon