UTORwin Wireless Notes

Wireless at the University of Toronto


This page is based on notes I made when figuring-out how to get the wireless networking going at U of T. It doesn't make an effort to be comprehensive. Nevertheless, I hope it is some use.

If you're looking for my Debian GNU/Linux laptop install notes the click here. A link back to the main page is here.

If you're using another GNU/Linux distribution the following also ought to be of some use, assuming the hardware is properly detected; I didn't have any problems getting the wireless working in Mandrake 10.1 (from the command line).

If you're at U of T, I encourage you to send the administration a quick note to get 'em thinking more about GNU/Linux. I've worked the issue in the past (see my submission to the Provost). A more recent piece of my writing (on FLOSS) is in the University of Toronto Medical Journal.




Debian GNU/Linux - Sarge
Wireless Guide for the University of Toronto




USEFUL LINUX COMMANDS
ifup eth1		# starts up network device "eth1"
ifdown eth1		# takes down network device "eth1"
iwconfig		# wireless config
ifconfig		# networking config
route			# show/manipulate the IP routing table
nameif 			# name network interfaces based on MAC addresses -- assoc. w/ "/etc/mactab"


REFERENCE INFORMATION
http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/How-To/Wireless-Networking-Basics/
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~sergior/tutorials/linux-wireless.html
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/DISTRIBUTIONS.txt

THE BASIC CONFIG
SET ESSID
# iwconfig eth1 essid "UTORwin"

SET NETWORK KEY
# iwconfig eth1 key s:UToronto1home

STARTING THE NETWORK
# ifdown eth1
# ifup eth1		# start network

GOTO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS TO LOGIN
http://login.wireless.utoronto.ca


NOTES
EDITING "/etc/network/interfaces" SHOULD AUTOMATE THIS...

cobalamin:/etc/network# more interfaces
==================================================
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# This entry denotes the loopback (127.0.0.1) interface.
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# This entry was created during the Debian installation
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

# This entry was added manually for fixed IP address networking
#auto eth0
#iface eth0 inet static
#address XXX.XX.XX.XXX
#gateway XXX.XX.XX.XXX
#netmask 255.255.0.0

# This entry was added manually to facilitate wireless networking
auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
netmask 255.255.255.0
wireless_mode auto
wireless_essid UTORwin
wireless_enc_key 55546F726F6E746F49686F6D65
wireless_nick localhost 
==================================================


FIXING THE MAC ADDRESS...
The MAC address (appears as "hwaddr" in 'ifconfig')
Is defined in "/etc/mactab" 
  You can see this when logining in with windows

My "/etc/mactab"  
==================================================
# created by MB on 9 May 2004
# for details see:
# http://www.debianhelp.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpBB_14&file=index&action=viewtopic&topic=4598&forum=6&start=0
#
eth0 XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX		# ethernet
eth1 XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX		# wireless  
==================================================  


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL NOTE - if the wireless modem isn't on when booting up there is a problem.
This is probably fixed by assigning MAC addresses in "/etc/mactab"

http://www.debianhelp.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpBB_14&file=index&action=viewtopic&topic=4598&forum=6&start=0
---------
To insure that multiple nic cards are always addigned the proper eth*, you can use 
nameif, part of the net-tools package. You configure nameif with /etc/mactab. Each 
NIC has it's own mac-address. In /etc/mactab, you rename a network interface based 
on a mac-address. mactab should look something like"
eth0 00:00:92:A7:94:DC
eth1 00:00:92:A7:94:DD
eth2 00:00:92:A7:94:DE
eth3 00:00:92:A7:94:DF

In the above example, I'm using a 4 port NIC, which explanes why the mac-addresses 
are almost the same. Hope this helps. I added the "nameif -s" command string to the 
begining of /etc/init.d/checkroot.sh. Hope this helps. -mk
---------


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Disclaimer: This page does not represent the University of Toronto in any way, shape or form.
Last modified: August 27, 2005.