Newbie - need help configuring wireless connection...

[bobmarss]

Hi,

I am really embarrassed to have to ask help on this one but I just can't seem to figure it out.

I am simply trying to connect my OpenBSD 5.1 box to a WAP.

I have tried 3 different network devices:
1. PCMCIA Linksys WPC4G ver 3.1
2. Alfa AWUS036NH
3. Alfa AWUS036H (urtw0)

OpenBSD 5.1 seems to recognize all three of these cards right out of the box. I successfully use the following command with all three:

----------------------------

$ sudo ifconfig nwdevice scan

-----------------------------

After reading the ifconfig man page, I have tried using the following command to access my WAP:

$ sudo ifconfig urtw0 nwid Jupiter chan 7 bssid 00:0f:66:00:7c:29 wpakey XXX

The result:

------------------------

ifconfig urtw0

urtw0: flags=8a43<UP,BROADCAST, RUNNING, ALLMULTI,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

lladdr 00:c0:ca:50:79:21

priority: 4

groups: wlan

media: IEEE802.11 autoselect (DS1 mode 11g)

status: active

ieee80211: nwid Jupiter chan 7 bssid 00.0f:66:00:7c:29 100dB wpakey (not displayed) wpaprotos wpa1.wpa2. wpaakms psk wpaciphers tkep, ccmp wpagroupcipher tkip 100dBm

inet6 fe80::2c0:caff:fe50:7921%urtw0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4

------------------------

The AWUS036H(urtw0) seems to be the most promising of the the three.

Unfortunately, I am not supplied with an IP and I do not seem to have an actual connection. Pinging google yields nothing.

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
Bob

[IdOp]

Hi bobmarss, and welcome to daemonforums.org!

You are half-way there. You've established a link-level connection to the WAP, but to get an IP address you'll probably want to use dhclient(9). This uses the DHCP protocol to attempt to get an IP address from the AP, etc. Usually the AP is set up to support this.

[jggimi]

Originally Posted by bobmarss

Hi,

Hello, and welcome!

I am really embarrassed to have to ask help on this one but I just can't seem to figure it out.

There is nothing to be embarrassed about. We've all had technical puzzles that were highly complex (for us, anyway), as well as a few "facepalm" moments now and again. It comes with the territory.

$ sudo ifconfig urtw0 nwid Jupiter  chan 7 bssid 00:0f:66:00:7c:29 wpakey XXX

Not everyone needs to specify channel or bssid. But what's important is what I highlight below:

urtw0: flags=8a43<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,ALLMULTI,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
 lladdr 00:c0:ca:50:79:21
 priority: 4
groups: wlan
media: IEEE802.11 autoselect (DS1 mode 11g)
status: active

ieee80211: nwid Jupiter chan 7 bssid 00.0f:66:00:7c:29 100dB wpakey (not displayed) wpaprotos wpa1.wpa2. wpaakms psk wpaciphers tkep, ccmp wpagroupcipher tkip 100dBm
inet6 fe80::2c0:caff:fe50:7921%urtw0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4

Unfortunately, I am not supplied with an IP and I do not seem to have an actual connection.

The "active" status means that there is a recognized Ethernet connection. You're on the right channel, connected to the right Access Point, with a recognized encryption key.

From what you've posted, it appears you just haven't yet requested an IP address. The protocol to do this is the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). On OpenBSD, you can do this manually with the dhclient(8) program, simply: # dhclient urtw0 and that might do the trick.

You can also create an /etc/hostname.urtw0 file with "dhcp" in it, as described in the hostname.if(5) man page. The hostname.* files are used by the netstart(8) program, called by rc(8) during boot.

[bobmarss]

IDOP and Jiggimi, that did the trick! I can't thank you both enough!!

Sincerely,
Bob

[daemonfowl]

Congratulations bobmarss !!!