wireless connection problem

[kurumi]

hi
using Fedora 11. recently , i changed wireless AP. I used system-config-network to edit my wireless adaptor at wlan0. when i go to "Devices" and double click wlan0 and then go to "Hardware Device" tab, when i click on 'probe" , it sill shows me the MAC address of the old wireless AP. I am guessing this is the problem i can't connect to wireless and the keyring prompt asking me to key in the password doesn't show up. How to solve it?

i had also accidentally done something, so that now, the network applet doesn't come up from the panel. any way to restore it ??

thanks

[PavanKY]

I do not know about the other issue but, press alt+f2 and then run nm-applet
you can add this command to start up applications too, if you prefer

[kurumi]

thanks, i manage to get the system tray up. now i can see the applet. still i could not get to associate with my AP. I search the net and do some research and i manage to find some info on /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules. In there i still see the old AP mac address.

# PCI device 0x8086:0x4222 (iwl3945)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:13:02:22:09:6f", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="wlan*", NAME="wlan0"

if i change it to new MAC address of my new AP and then reboot my system, it (i think its ananconda) creates a new wlan1 for me , with the same old AP mac address. How can i make the system recognize the new MAC address of my AP. Isn't there an easier way to autodetect new AP mac address?? Or rather, isn't there an easier way for Fedora 11 to seamlessly reconfigure my wireless network whenever i change new wireless router ?

[stoat]

Originally Posted by kurumi

using Fedora 11. recently , i changed wireless AP.

Originally Posted by kurumi

Isn't there an easier way to autodetect new AP mac address?? Or rather, isn't there an easier way for Fedora 11 to seamlessly reconfigure my wireless network whenever i change new wireless router ?

Hello kurumi,

I think you're making this too difficult. If you're using NetworkManager to manage your wireless connections (and it sounds like it), then it will effortlessly find new networks for you to connect to (including a new wireless router). It's supposed to work just like Network Connections in Windows XP, for example. And it does for me. When new available networks come into range, you can see them and try to connect to them by left-clicking the NetworkManager panel applet icon. It's that simple for me when I go to hotels, for example. Just like Windows.

Originally Posted by kurumi

I used system-config-network to edit my wireless adaptor at wlan0.

Originally Posted by kurumi

when i go to "Devices" and double click wlan0 and then go to "Hardware Device" tab, when i click on 'probe" , it sill shows me the MAC address of the old wireless AP.

I have found (and I can prove it, if I have to) that tinkering in the old Network Configuration utility (aka system-config-network) is not only unnecessary when NetworkManager is being used to manage connections, but it can also stop NetworkManager dead in its tracks sometimes. If you want to use NetworkManager, then I urge you to stay out of system-config-network. Also stay out of its text config files. All of that old traditional stuff is fine if you are manually establishing and managing connections. We all did it that way for a long time. But don't do that stuff with NetworkManager. I don't even open the system-config-network applet any more, much less type anything into it.

Originally Posted by kurumi

I search the net and do some research and i manage to find some info on /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules. In there i still see the old AP mac address.

# PCI device 0x8086:0x4222 (iwl3945)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:13:02:22:09:6f", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="wlan*", NAME="wlan0"

if i change it to new MAC address of my new AP and then reboot my system, it (i think its ananconda) creates a new wlan1 for me , with the same old AP mac address.

That's not the MAC address of your wireless router. That's the MAC address and name of the wireless adapter in your computer. And yes, it can get named wlan0 or wlan1 in certain situations. But that's not a big deal. Leave it that way and go with it. However, it is possible to change the name of your wireless card in that config file if you insist. I used to do that myself until I decided not to care what the wireless device's name is. As long as I know what it is, that is all that really matters.

I don't know if you've hopelessly botched your wireless setup or not. I hope you can get connected to something again. And if you do, you can also connect to your new router by just moving into its range, left-clicking the NetworkManager panel applet icon, selecting the network, and giving it the information it needs to connect. I do it that way all the time. You made this unnecessarily difficult.

P.S.: If your new wireless router is using the same SSID as the previous router, then try "Edit Connections..." by right-clicking the NetworkManager panel applet icon and then delete the existing wireless connections. Try again to connect to the new wireless router.

[zaitcev]

The only important rule about 70-persistent-net.rules (please pardone the pun) is that the listed interface name has to match the filename and NAME token in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-XXX, and HWADDR must match the MAC in the udev rule. So, you can easily rename them with a text editor.

For example, my home server is my AP and its 802.11 interface is called "wlanhome", no matter what adapter is in use.

However, just like Stoat said, if this is a client, it is not the address of the AP (unless you're confused and call your adapter "AP").

-- Pete