[SOLVED]Re: flakey wifi access
On Sun, 14 Sep 2014 12:13:14 -0700 tom arnall wrote: > SOLVED! > > i use wicd and i changed a preference: > > preferences>external programs and change 'auto' to 'dhclient' > > Mett, is this the equivalent of what you suggest doing manually? > > thanks everyone for your help. > > Tom > > On 6/30/14, mett wrote: > > On Mon, 30 Jun 2014 06:39:29 -0400 > > ken wrote: > > > >> On 06/29/2014 10:50 PM tom arnall wrote: > >> > my wicd agent is unable to connect to wifi at mcDonald's, both in > >> > mexico and the states. it's fine with my home wifi and the coffee > >> > shop i go to. it also fails on the network at the campus where i > >> > teach in mexico. > >> > >> "Unable to connect" can mean a lot of things. I recently had a > >> wifi connection problem which, using 'ping', I determined to be > >> caused by a lot of packets being dropped-- like 30 - 60% of them. > >> I found that ping will return a response in some cases even when > >> it seems there is no connection. You'll need to find out the IP > >> address of the access point (AP). If your system doesn't tell you > >> this, you might ask some other user. Get rates from all APs, > >> working and non-working, and compare them. > >> > >> Another utility to use is tcpdump. This will provide very detailed > >> information about the packets constituting the connection attempt. > >> > >> And iwlist will provide info on the available APs. Noting the > >> relative signal strengths and protocols used and other details > >> might point to patterns. > >> > >> > > > > > > You can try to go the "manual" way to see if you get better results: > > > > -bring up your wireless interface, if it s not already up > > > > 'ifconfig' (if it doesn't appear here, means it is not up) > > > > 'ifconfig -a' (you should see it here, as this command lists all the > > available physical interfaces on your machine. Then) > > > > 'ifconfig WIRELESS-INTERFACE-NAME up' (to bring it up). > > > > -Then, once up, you can, as ken said, use iwlist to know about the > > AP in your vicinity > > > > 'iwlist scan' > > > > You should see mac-donald's AP essid name in the list you get from > > iwlist. > > > > -Finally, for mac-donalds, I saw on their page they re isn't any > > encryption and password to connect to their AP, so you just need to > > run > > > > 'iwconfig WIRELESS-INTERFACE-NAME essid MACDO-ESSID-NAME' > > > > and then dhclient to get an IP(with the -v flag to be sure you > > obtained an IP address) > > > > 'dhclient -v WIRELESS-INTERFACE-NAME' > > > > -Finally_2, open your browser and you should see mac-do HP, > > and a 'connect' button to connect from there. > > > > > > There is a detailed explanation to connect manually on crunchbang, > > under the three main methods (no password and no encryption, or WEP > > or WPA). Here is the link > > http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=16624 > > > > Also, you might have to use 'sudo' for all those commands as you > > need to be the root user to run them. > > > > Also_2, stop all the other wifi-network-related daemons as they > > might get in the way when you try to config manually(wicd and > > others if you have). > > > > HTH > > > > > > -- > > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org > > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact > > listmas...@lists.debian.org > > Archive: > > https://lists.debian.org/20140701113048.2b0b6e7b@asus.tamerr > > > > Hey, nice to hear about that. I just checked wicd and it uses the default dhcp client of the box it runs on, when set to 'auto'. I think the default dhcp client on Debian(squeeze at least) is dhclient(ISC) anyway. So maybe the problem was not on your side but on the AP one. At any rate, next time you have a problem try a scan first to check if you see the AP you want to connect to (iwlist). -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/20140915152719.7ed42b98@asus.tamerr
Re: flakey wifi access
On Mon, 30 Jun 2014 06:39:29 -0400 ken wrote: > On 06/29/2014 10:50 PM tom arnall wrote: > > my wicd agent is unable to connect to wifi at mcDonald's, both in > > mexico and the states. it's fine with my home wifi and the coffee > > shop i go to. it also fails on the network at the campus where i > > teach in mexico. > > "Unable to connect" can mean a lot of things. I recently had a wifi > connection problem which, using 'ping', I determined to be caused by > a lot of packets being dropped-- like 30 - 60% of them. I found that > ping will return a response in some cases even when it seems there is > no connection. You'll need to find out the IP address of the access > point (AP). If your system doesn't tell you this, you might ask some > other user. Get rates from all APs, working and non-working, and > compare them. > > Another utility to use is tcpdump. This will provide very detailed > information about the packets constituting the connection attempt. > > And iwlist will provide info on the available APs. Noting the > relative signal strengths and protocols used and other details might > point to patterns. > > You can try to go the "manual" way to see if you get better results: -bring up your wireless interface, if it s not already up 'ifconfig' (if it doesn't appear here, means it is not up) 'ifconfig -a' (you should see it here, as this command lists all the available physical interfaces on your machine. Then) 'ifconfig WIRELESS-INTERFACE-NAME up' (to bring it up). -Then, once up, you can, as ken said, use iwlist to know about the AP in your vicinity 'iwlist scan' You should see mac-donald's AP essid name in the list you get from iwlist. -Finally, for mac-donalds, I saw on their page they re isn't any encryption and password to connect to their AP, so you just need to run 'iwconfig WIRELESS-INTERFACE-NAME essid MACDO-ESSID-NAME' and then dhclient to get an IP(with the -v flag to be sure you obtained an IP address) 'dhclient -v WIRELESS-INTERFACE-NAME' -Finally_2, open your browser and you should see mac-do HP, and a 'connect' button to connect from there. There is a detailed explanation to connect manually on crunchbang, under the three main methods (no password and no encryption, or WEP or WPA). Here is the link http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=16624 Also, you might have to use 'sudo' for all those commands as you need to be the root user to run them. Also_2, stop all the other wifi-network-related daemons as they might get in the way when you try to config manually(wicd and others if you have). HTH -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/20140701113048.2b0b6e7b@asus.tamerr
Re: flakey wifi access
On Mon, 30 Jun 2014 17:43:14 -0700 Matt Ventura wrote: > In my case, the issue was with the underlying driver with the card > plus wicd's poor handling of failures. The connection would drop, > but wicd would continue to try to do DHCP on the connection, so it There may be something else (in sid) different: several weeks ago, I set a USB wifi dongle which work perfectly with hosatpd and wavemon. Some few weeks ago, wavemon stopped to work, responding "device doesn't support scan" just after an upgrade:( -- BOFH excuse #239: CPU needs bearings repacked signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: flakey wifi access
On 6/30/2014 5:20 PM, Brian Flaherty wrote: On 06/29/2014 07:50 PM, tom arnall wrote: my wicd agent is unable to connect to wifi at mcDonald's, both in mexico and the states. it's fine with my home wifi and the coffee shop i go to. it also fails on the network at the campus where i teach in mexico. I had used wicd for months without problems, but last spring, I was unable to get on a WPA/WPA2 access point. The password was correct. Several other devices were connected. After a few days, I was able to get a cable connection and install networkmanager. I tried it and worked without problem. Didn't have time to work out what the issue was and I'm still just using networkmanager. In my case, the issue was with the underlying driver with the card plus wicd's poor handling of failures. The connection would drop, but wicd would continue to try to do DHCP on the connection, so it would sit there for a while spinning its wheels. Networkmanager would actually see the failures and restart the connection process until it worked. Using NM instead of wicd can be a good way to cover up driver issues. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/53b20422.5080...@mattventura.net
Re: flakey wifi access
On 06/29/2014 07:50 PM, tom arnall wrote: my wicd agent is unable to connect to wifi at mcDonald's, both in mexico and the states. it's fine with my home wifi and the coffee shop i go to. it also fails on the network at the campus where i teach in mexico. I had used wicd for months without problems, but last spring, I was unable to get on a WPA/WPA2 access point. The password was correct. Several other devices were connected. After a few days, I was able to get a cable connection and install networkmanager. I tried it and worked without problem. Didn't have time to work out what the issue was and I'm still just using networkmanager. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/53b1febe.8060...@yahoo.com
Re: flakey wifi access
On 06/29/2014 10:50 PM tom arnall wrote: my wicd agent is unable to connect to wifi at mcDonald's, both in mexico and the states. it's fine with my home wifi and the coffee shop i go to. it also fails on the network at the campus where i teach in mexico. "Unable to connect" can mean a lot of things. I recently had a wifi connection problem which, using 'ping', I determined to be caused by a lot of packets being dropped-- like 30 - 60% of them. I found that ping will return a response in some cases even when it seems there is no connection. You'll need to find out the IP address of the access point (AP). If your system doesn't tell you this, you might ask some other user. Get rates from all APs, working and non-working, and compare them. Another utility to use is tcpdump. This will provide very detailed information about the packets constituting the connection attempt. And iwlist will provide info on the available APs. Noting the relative signal strengths and protocols used and other details might point to patterns. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/53b13e61.2010...@mousecar.com
Re: flakey wifi access
I've had something similar happen, but it turned out that the problem wasn't wicd but rather the driver for the card itself. Can you check if the problem occurs with something other than wicd? Also, what wifi card? On 6/29/2014 7:50 PM, tom arnall wrote: my wicd agent is unable to connect to wifi at mcDonald's, both in mexico and the states. it's fine with my home wifi and the coffee shop i go to. it also fails on the network at the campus where i teach in mexico. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/53b0d2cc.1010...@mattventura.net
Re: flakey wifi access
On Sun, 29 Jun 2014 18:50:19 -0800 tom arnall wrote: > my wicd agent is unable to connect to wifi at mcDonald's, both in > mexico and the states. it's fine with my home wifi and the coffee shop > i go to. it also fails on the network at the campus where i teach in > mexico. > > Find common factors on all the places it succeeds. Find all the common factors on the places it fails. Then contrast the two sets of common factors, and that should point an accusing finger at the root cause. SteveT Steve Litt* http://www.troubleshooters.com/ Troubleshooting Training * Human Performance -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/20140629225747.0c6db...@mydesq2.domain.cxm
flakey wifi access
my wicd agent is unable to connect to wifi at mcDonald's, both in mexico and the states. it's fine with my home wifi and the coffee shop i go to. it also fails on the network at the campus where i teach in mexico. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/cafkyrxpokbjtnewxufg314cqeasjsquo+shwpndlw7j1abg...@mail.gmail.com
