[clue-tech] wrt54g v3 again

[dperkins at frii.com]

> 2. My R51 laptop is quite happy to communicate (using KNetworkManager
> for the automatic setup) as long as the kernel is right! *Ubuntu, like
> most distros, doesn't do an adequate amount of testing before
> releasing a kernel. What works just fine on kernel 2.6.20-9-generic
> fails miserably on kernel 2.6.20-11-generic - doesn't even detect a
> wireless device!

You could try using the old .config file, and then typing "make
oldconfig".  That will probably keep wireless working.  If you are using a
wireless kernel module that is not part of the kernel, you might need to
recompile and install it or save a copy somewhere and copy it back into
/lib/modules after installing the new kernel.

> Here's another dumb newbie question. How does encryption work on these
> units? Is this a matter of hardware in the unit or is this handled by
> the various software loads you can put in the unit?

I'm still learning about wireless, but this might help.

You can use either WEP or WPA for security.  WEP suffers from a poor
encryption algorithm, but is still a lot better than a totally open
system.

If you use WEP, I recommend using 128-bit encryption instead of 64-bit. 
When I set up my router, it let me enter a password (?) and then created a
hexadecimal key.  I used that for the first key and left the other three
unused.  You can ignore the other keys.  Apparently multiple keys were
intended to let users use rolling keys for supposedly greater security.

It's also possible to use an ASCII string for a key if you add s: to the
beginning of the string.  I haven't tried this yet, so I'm not sure why
both methods are available.

WEP also lets you choose between open or shared (restricted) security
mode.  I think shared mode requires that everything be encrypted, but I
have seen a few webpages that recommend open mode on Linux.  That might be
old advice, and I am using shared mode.

In order for WEP to work, you need to set the mode to Managed.  I've found
that I have trouble changing settings while in Managed mode, so I drop
into Ad-Hoc mode and make the changes, then set the mode back to Managed.



WPA is more secure, but I haven't tried it yet.  I'll probably do so in a
couple of weeks.  Ubuntu probably uses wpasupplicant and I don't know if
that is installed by default.