Connecting to a Wireless LAN with Linux, Part 2

Getting Online

In Part 1 we reviewed hardware options, which wireless utilities should be present, how to use Windows drivers, and how to be open to connect to any available wireless access point. Today we'll cover configurations on Red Hat- and Debian-type systems, basic security, and hardware discovery.

Wireless connectivity can be rather overly friendly, allowing connections from anyone. This howto assumes you have a wireless access point on a LAN, which can be all wireless or mixed wired and wireless. You don't want it wide open to just any random person with a desire to snoop on your network or "borrow" your bandwidth, but you want some access controls and security. Your access point should have a unique SSID (service set identifier), WEP (wireless equivalent privacy) or WPA/WPA2 (Wi-fi protected access) set up and working, and either a DHCP server or a pool of assigned IP addresses for clients.