Wifidocswirelesstroubleshootingguide: 1. Before Using This Guide

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WifiDocsWirelessTroubleShootingGuide
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Contents
1. Before using this guide

2. Purpose
3. Overview
WifiDocs/WiFiTroubleshooting 1. Steps
should be merged into this 2. Config files
document. 3. Connected but no internet
4. Commands
4. Troubleshooting Steps
1. Before using this 1. Check Device
2. Device Drivers
guide 3. Router Connection
4. ip assignment
Open System > Preferences > Network 5. Connected but no internet
5. Config Files
Configuration - on Ubuntu 8.04 and 6. Connection Established, Problems
later this should be System > Persist
Administration > Network. If you can 1. Dropped Connections
see a "Wireless Connection" entry 2. Connected, Issues with
under the Connections tab, then you Certain Websites
may have a working driver already 3. Incorrect Driver Loads at
installed and simply need to activate Boot
the card. Select the entry and click on 7. Commands
the "Properties" button to the right. 1. lshw
2. lspci
Check "Enable this connection" and fill 3. lsusb
in the appropriate information below 4. lsmod
(SSID, network name, passcode, and 5. modprobe
connection settings). When finished, 6. iwconfig
click OK and wait for the system to 7. ifconfig
activate your card. If this does not 8. iwlist
produce a working connection, make 9. dhclient
sure you have entered all settings 10. ping
correctly, then consult the remainder of 11. Links
this guide to track down your problem
(s).
2. Purpose
This guide can serve as a checklist for troubleshooting your wireless network
connections. While it may not solve all your problems, it can hopefully steer you in
the right direction.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessTroubleShootingGuide?action... 20.Nov.09
3. Overview
3.1. Steps
z The basic structure
{ Check for Device Recognition
{ Check for driver
{ Check for router connection
{ Check for ip address assignment
{ Connected but no internet
z This structure is setup in a specific order. Do not move on until you get
everything resolved in the current step. For example, step 3 is router
association. You can not move on to the next step of ip assignment until you
get router association. If you can't get past a step, look for more help in that
specific area. Once it's resolved, move onto the next step.
3.2. Config files

z Any config file used in wireless will be listed with notes about the particular
file
3.3. Connected but no internet

z This section will be devoted to those who have a working wireless
connection but other problems occur such as dropped signal. This is a
fragmented work in progress currently.
3.4. Commands
z Reading through the commands section is not necessary for this guide, but
could prove useful.
z The first section contains the commands associated with troubleshooting
wireless. Details about the command and some basics of what it does will be
given. When going through the steps, anywhere a command is given it will
link to the command section.
z With each command will be an example with key points noted.
z For more information on each command check the manual.
{ man <command>
z Where a word appears inside <>. you need to input a value to complete the
command. Do not include the <> symbols in your command.
{ eg Where you see <ath0> you need to replace this with your device's
logical name (could be ath0; wlan0; eth1; etc...)

{ To find the device's logical name, run:
sudo iwconfig
4. Troubleshooting Steps
4.1. Check Device
Commands we'll be using in this section: lshw lspci lsusb
4.1.1. PnP
z Most devices are plug and play but it is worth checking.
plug and Play is a term used in the computer field to describe a computer's
ability to have new device, normally peripherals, added without having to
reconfigure or restart the computer. It is not a term stating the device will work as
described immediately. A driver has to be installed so the os can communicate
with the device
1. To check if device is recognized use the lshw command. If device shows up

then you can check off step I
4.1.2. Non-recognized Card
z Some devices are not recognized by the OS upon insertion. [Needs

expansion.]
1. If card doesn't show up immediately try these steps:
Run the following command. Hopefully you'll get some output about the
device.
sudo pccardctl ident
Socket 0:
product info: "Atheros Communications, Inc.", "AR5001-
0000-0000", "Wireless LAN Reference Card", "00"
manfid: 0x0271, 0x0012
function: 6 (network)
If you get no output then the memory on the card cannot be read. Now
we need to open a configuration file and add this information to it:
gksudo gedit /etc/pcmcia/config.opts
the information you add should look like this, with your own data
substituted.
card ""Atheros Communications, Inc.", "AR5001-0000-0000", "Wireless L

0000", "Wireless LAN"
manfid 0x0271, 0x0012
function: 6 (network)
bind "ath_pci"
After making this change run this command:
sudo kill -HUP `cat /var/run/cardmgr.pid`
Now run lshw to see if the card is recognized and loaded properly.
Most cards requiring this step will be older devices. You should not have to do
this with any cards made in the past few years, but there can be exceptions.
Notice the bind line which states what driver should be allocated to the device.
You will need to find what driver your device uses. More on that in the next step.
4.1.2.1. Problem with bridge in PCI bus line
On several, especially new systems the Yenta bridge is not on the root PCI
bridge, but behind a PCI-to-PCI bridge. On some x86 or x86_64 systems,
these bridges aren't corrreclty set up by the BIOS, which may cause CardBus
and even PCMCIA devices not to show up in lspci or in pccardctl ident
correctly. If you suspect that this may be the cause, issue this command:
lspci -v | grep subordinate
Its result may be like this:
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=04, sec-latency=64
latency=64
Bus: primary=02, secondary=03, subordinate=06, sec-
latency=176
Bus: primary=02, secondary=07, subordinate=0a, sec-
latency=176
Let's decode the first line: bus 0 (primary) is bridged to busses 2

(secondary) to 4 (subordinate) by a bridge. The second and the third
line state that bus 2 is bridged to busses 3-6, and 7-10. However, the
CPU (which itself is connected to bus 0 through the root bridge) needs
to be able to access all these busses. If you try to walk the tree to bus 7,
for example, you see that the CPU can't get there, as bus 0 is only
bridged to busses 2 to 4.
If this is the case, or you find a message stating "try pci=assign-busses" in
the dmesg log, append the following to the kernel boot line:
pci=assign-busses
4.1.3. System locks upon card insertion
When a card is first inserted, the system attempts to read the card's memory.
This can sometimes cause your system to lock-up. Try this to see if it helps:
1) Open the file /etc/pcmcia/config.opts
gksudo gedit /etc/pcmcia/config.opts
2) Find the following section:
include memory 0xc0000-0xfffff

include memory 0xa0000000-0xa0ffffff
include memory 0x60000000-0x60ffffff
3) Change it to look like this:
include memory 0xd0000-0xdffff

include memory 0xc0000-0xcffff
include memory 0xc8000-0xcffff
include memory 0xd8000-0xdffff
4.2. Device Drivers

Commands we'll be using in this section: lshw lsmod modprobe
First you should check if a driver automatically loaded. (Your device may be
supported in Ubuntu with a native driver.) Use the lshw command. As explained
under lshw, if there is a line saying "configuration: ...driver=..." in the description
of the wireless card, this indicates the driver is OK
4.2.1. Native Linux Drivers
z For Atheros cards, see WifiDocs/Driver/Atheros.

z Linux wireless devices.
Devices using the ralink chipset are listed with the rt2x00 driver. the
rt2x00 driver only works for kernels 2.6.13 or greater. For a kernel older then this
you need to use rt2500 for pci devices or rt2570 for usb devices
4.2.2. ndiswrapper for non supported cards
Not all cards/devices have a linux driver. If you find your card is not supported
you will have to look at an app called ndiswrapper.
z You can check here to see if your card is supported by ndiswrapper.

z full information on ndiswrapper kept on this page including troubleshooting
help specific to ndiswrapper.
Sometimes ndiswrapper is used prematurely. There may be a native driver that

comes with Ubuntu which is taking the primary driver position and conflicting
with ndiswrapper. In such cases, if the native driver does not work properly with
your card you want to use ndiswrapper, you can blacklist the native driver, by
adding a file to /etc/modprobe.d/ . The file name must begin with the blacklist
prefix. In this file you can blacklist modules (so that they will not be loaded upon
card chipset recognition) with the following syntax :
blacklist modulename
For example, if you own a D-Link DWL-G520+ card which uses the ACX111
chipset, and you plan to use the ndiswrapper module, you have to blacklist the acx
module, by creating the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-acx with a single line inside
which states :
blacklist acx
4.2.3. Check driver
If you ran lshw and saw a driver bound to the device then let's test to make
sure it's communicating to the kernel.
1. run the command lsmod to see if driver is loaded. (look for the driver
name that was listed in the output of lshw, "configuration" line). If you
did not see the driver module in the list then use the modprobe
command to load it.
2. run the command iwconfig. If you see output like in the example in
the command section then the driver is at least identifying the device
as a wireless device to the kernel.
a. Opening networking in system>administration> and seeing the
device in the list is how to identify through gui if driver is at
least communicating to the kernel at a basic level.
3. run the command iwlist to scan for a router. If an access point is
identified this is a second identifier which shows the driver as
communicating and shows that it's probably working as it can
complete a wireless interface task. (note not all cards support scanning
so this may not work for you)
4.2.4. Multiple drivers loaded
For some cards (e.g., SMC2632W v1.02), an additional set of drivers is

incorrectly loaded, effectively disabling wireless networking by generating
two apparent wifi cards where there should only be one. Typically, you'll see
entries for both eth1 and wlan0_rename after running the iwconfig
command, with your communication speed divided evenly between them.
One of those drivers should not be loaded, and should be blacklisted. To do
so, edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist and add the following lines:
blacklist <drivername>
blacklist <drivername>_cs
where <drivername> is, for example, "hostap" (the "hostap" driver

apparently causes problems for several cards). Then save, reboot, and check
your connection with iwconfig.
4.2.5. Driver looks ok, device disabled
Newer laptops come with features to disable the wireless radio to save
battery when not in use. Usually this is switched by a FN+Fx key combo or
specific button for the purpose. It is possible driver and everything is ok but
the wireless device is in the disabled state and can't be used. Using the
designated key(s) in linux sometimes does not work.
Usually this is apparent by running the lshw command you see *-
network:1 DISABLED or wireless=radio off, or if you run the
iwconfig command you see eth1 NOT READY!. So how do you
rectify this? It varies so much the exact solution can't be put here in this
document for all the different models. So...
z Look at the LaptopTestingTeam page on the team wiki to see if your laptop
is listed with any information.
z Do a google search using terms such as manufacture, model, linux, wireless,
enable, button, radio....etc. When searching and finding similar pages that
don't help, use words that are used in those pages to help you search.
z Go to the ubuntu forums and ask, maybe someone else has the same laptop
and knows the work around.
4.3. Router Connection

Commands we'll be using in this section: iwconfig
z With the driver loaded go to the panel System>Administration>Networking.

Highlight your device and click properties. Enter your networking info, click
ok then try to activate.
1. You should see an applet in the panel showing a connection. (You
may need to set properties to show correct interface)
2. You can check if you're associated to router by running the command
iwconfig.
z You can also connect to the router via the command line using the command
iwconfig. The syntax looks like this.
sudo iwconfig <ath0> essid <essid> ap <xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:> key <XXX> m

key <XXX> mode <> commit
note: not all these may be used, check the man page for more informatin
z If you can not connect to the router then try these.

1. Change to an open signal (instead of wep or wpa). This may be an
unattractive option but it's a short term one to make sure the card and
ap can connect. Once you've verified this then you can add encryption
back in.
a. When using wep more people seem to have success using an
open key instead of shared and a hexadecimal method instead of
ascii. But there should be no reason any setting shouldn't work.
Try the settings you want and consider adjusting if you have
problems.
b. To get wpa working you will need to install the wpasupplicant
from the repositories. There are instructions for various drivers
on using wpa. See notes on wpa below.
2. Download a scanner such as network manager, gtk wifi, or wifi radar.
of course this is not an option if you can not connect to the internet without wireless
3. Try booting with kernel option pci=noacpi or acpi=off as acpi
sometimes conflicts with network devices. The second option will

affect power management.
4. Check for firmware update on the router and update it if there is newer
firmware available.
5. Make sure that your wireless adapter is compatible with the encryption
type used by the router. Older adapters (such as 802.11b) are often not
able to handle WPA or WPA2, at least not without firmware upgrade.
4.3.1. Notes on wep
z ubuntu wep faq

z If you have a 10 digit wep key try entering it in this format xxxx-xxxx-xx
(include dashes)
z Use an open setting instead of shared when using wep
z When using wep, check driver files such as README as some drivers need
a command to adjust the mode to work properly. Here are a couple
examples.
{ Madwifi driver needs to change to authmode 2 when using shared key
setting.
manually from command line iwpriv ath0 authmode 2
add line pre-up iwpriv ath0 authmode 2 to interfaces file to

automate during boot
{ For ipw2200 driver interface file should say wireless-key restricted
<key>
4.3.2. Notes on wpa
z Information on host AP; hostapd; wpa_supplicant

z ndiswrapper w/ wpa
z WPA HowTo
z ipw2200 and WPA
z madwifi/atheros and wpa
There have been a few posts where no association is established with router
even on an open signal. At the point of writing this line, no answer has been seen
to why this happens. A router reboot has been noted once to resolve but in other
situations has caused heartache as network settings need to be set up again.
Booting with acpi=off or noapci should be tried.
4.4. ip assignment
Now that you have association to the router did you get an ip assigned to the
device? This can be checked two ways.
1. Run the command ifconfig and look for an assigned ip.
2. You can always try to ping the router with the routers ip. A lot of
home routers use something similar to 192.168.0.1 You'll have to find
what that ip address is to ping.
If you do not have an ip then here are things to try
{ Using DHCP
sudo dhclient <ath0>
or
sudo invoke-rc.d networking restart
after running the invoke-rc.d command try dhclient ath0 again
You may want to try and reboot making sure your networking interfaces
file is set up properly.
If you can connect to the router, but can't get an ip, it may be because you put the
wrong WEP key in.
* Using Static ip assignment
sudo ifconfig <ath0> down
sudo ifconfig ip addr 192.168.x.x netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 1

broadcast 192.168.x.255 up
where the x = an ip address in your network range.
sudo route add default gw <router_ip> dev <ath0>
z Now try to ping your router and a website. If you're connected now and have
an ip assigned but can not surf website then move on to next section.
z You will need to make sure your interfaces file is set up properly so you get
internet again when you reboot
4.5. Connected but no internet
4.5.1. DNS
If you don't know what DNS means or what it does you can go here to read
more. Basically it takes a common name such as www.google.com and

searches a database to find the ip address of google. Then it actually
transfers the request to download the web page via the ip address. If you are
connected to your router and have an ip address assigned to your wireless
device but can't search the web, you will need to check to see if you have a
DNS nameserver set
{ A simple test to see if it's a DNS server setting is to use the ping
command. If you can ping an external site via ip address but can't load
a web page in your browser then it is possible you have a dns server
problem.
{ Check this file to see if there is a dns server listed.
cat /etc/resolv.conf
search telus.net
nameserver 209.53.4.130
nameserver 209.53.4.150
{You can find your dns settings if you have a working windows
machine
For a Win 95/98 box click start>run then type winipcfg.
Choose the correct adapter and then more. In the sample above,
replace telus.net with what's in the "Host Name" box. name
server will equal what's in the dns server box.
For a Win 2000/xp box click Start>Run...type cmd click ok.
type ipconfig /all. In the sample above, replace telus.net
with what's next to the field Connection-Specific DNS suffix.
For name server look next to the line DNS servers.
{ Your DNS server settings can also be found out by calling your isp
provider and asking them.
You can set up your dns settings so they don't change.
{ StaticDnsWithDhcp:StaticDnsWithDhcp
4.5.2. IPV6
The internet standard is currently considered ipv4. The new standard, ipv6,
is slowly being implemented to replace ipv4. Because it's not widely used at
the moment, ipv6 can cause problems. It is enabled by default in Ubuntu.
This can cause no internet if above seems ok.
{ Firefox specific
In the address bar type about:config. Find this line

network.dns.disableIPv6 and double click on it to change the
value to true.
{ System wide
Open the file /etc/modprobe.d/aliases
Add the first three lines to the file. The line with # starting is
already in the file. Find it and add the # in front of it.
alias net-pf-10 ipv6 off
alias net-pf-10 off
alias ipv6 off
#alias net-pf-10 ipv6
After making these changes a reboot is required.
5. Config Files
z The following is a list of important config files used with wireless
{ /etc/network/interfaces
This is where your inteface settings for the network are kept sample
1. man interfaces has information about this file.
2. For a little more detailed info on the interfaces file look at the
file in /usr/share/doc/ifupdown/examples/network-interfaces.gz.
You can read through it with the cat command and then adding |
less to the end of the command.
3. For pcmcia users who want to start your card at boot do not use
an auto stanza. add map <ath0> to the file. So here is an
example of what it would look like.
z Check your routers settings to ensure it can accept another connection.
1. Check your /etc/network/intefaces file. You should have something
similar to this:
# The loopback network interface

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
# This is a list of hotpluggable network interfaces.

# They will be activated automatically by the hotplug
subsystem.
# With lines # out these don't work. If they were removed
this would hotplug only eth0 when cable is plugged in with
active network
#mapping hotplug
# script grep
# map eth0
#echo connects ath0 when device is hotplugged. using echo

instead of grep allows any device to be brought up when
hotplugged. Note this could cause a problem if a device is
active and another one that is mapped is plugged in.
mapping hotplug
script echo
map ath0
#interfce of ath0 device with wep setting (not all these

lines are required but show you options that may be needed)
iface <ath0> inet dhcp
wireless-essid xxxx
wireless-key xxxxx
wireless-key xxxx-xxxx-xx (in certain situations a - is
needed after every 4 characters to work)
wireless-key1 xxxx (add a number after key to specify key
number to use.)
wireless-defaultkey 1 (specifies which key is default)
wireless-key s:xxx (add s: in front of key if ascii form)
wireless-key XXXXXXXXXX open|restricted (if using
shared/restricted setting add this line)
auto <ath0>
{ /etc/resolv.conf
Where your DNS server settings are kept
{ /etc/modules
If a driver won't load at boot, you can add it to this list so it does
{ /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
If you don't want a driver to load at boot you add it to this list. Usually
this is used if you have a driver conflict and you want to make sure a
specific driver is used. Note: this method will not work unless it is a
LKM (loadable kernel module) If driver/mod was compiled into the
base kernel, it will still load if on blacklist.
6. Connection Established, Problems Persist

This section is reserved for solutions to problems where you can get
connected but the connection is unstable. If you find a solution to your
problem that's not here, please edit this page and add your solution.
6.1. Dropped Connections

1. One common problem is channel interference. Cordless phones and other
wireless devices can interrupt your wireless connection. If you are having a
problem with dropped connections then try using a different channel.
2. Network-Manager; Wifi-radar; and gtk wifi can cause dropped signals every
so often as they scan the interfaces, causing the connection to drop. You can
try uninstalling these apps to see if your problem goes away, but doing so
will remove any GUI tools that you may or may not have been using to
configure and monitor your wireless connections. If removing these tools
solves your problem, please file a bug report on the product's launchpad page
to help improve the app's performance.
6.2. Connected, Issues with Certain Websites

1. Disable IPV6.
6.3. Incorrect Driver Loads at Boot

1. Some devices will have multiple drivers, and some will function better than
others. To prevent a specific driver from loading during boot, read the
modprobe command section.
7. Commands
This section gives a real brief summary of commands used to help you
troubleshoot. There are also examples of the commands discussed. For more
information, consult the man page of the command or do a google search.
7.1. lshw
This command shows information about hardware:
sudo lshw
We can limit the the output to show just specific devices by adding options to
the command:
sudo lshw -businfo
BusInfo Device Class Description

82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio
pci@00:1f.5 multimedia
Controller
82801CA/CAM AC'97 Modem
pci@00:1f.6 communication Controller

pci@03:00.0 ath0 network AR5212 802.11abg NIC
You can then use a different option to limit output so it shows just your
networking devices.
Find your device in the list and notice it's class then:
sudo lshw -C <class>
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: AR5212 802.11abg NIC
vendor: Atheros Communications, Inc.
physical id: 1
bus info: pci@03:00.0
logical name: ath0
version: 01
serial: 00:11:95:50:be:62
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical
wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes '''driver=ath_pci
driverversion=0.9.6.0 (EXPERIMENTAL)''' ip=192.168.1.12
multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g
resources: iomemory:10800000-1080ffff irq:11
Key Points
1. Notice the configuration line. This area will tell you if there is a driver
loaded for your device. (except devices using orinoco driver, these don't
show here) If you do not see a driver listed here then there is not one loaded
and assigned to the device and it will not show up in iwconfig output or the
nework-admin gui.
2. The businfo line has importance as some devices are recognized and
memory is readable but the device is not physically on the bus. This is rare
but it has been seen. It may seem cryptic but your output will vary greatly
and there needs to be some characters (other then 0) here denoting it's place
in the pci bus.
TODO: describe what it means when it shows *-network UNCLAIMED, and no
configuration line is present.
7.2. lspci
This command lists information about devices on the pci bus:
lspci -v
Lists out pci devices with information about the device. (information is
different then output from lshw)
You can limit the output by piping the output with grep
lspci -v | grep Ethernet
0000:03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212

Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC (rev 01)
'''Subsystem: D-Link System Inc D-link DWL-G650
(Rev B5)''' Wireless cardbus adapter
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ
11
Memory at 10800000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
[size=64K]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
command:
sudo lspci -n
0000:03:00.0 0200: '''168c:0013''' (rev 01)
Key Points
1. This command shows the revision of the card (in above example the revision
of the card is B5 not 01).
2. Using the -n option you can find the PCI ID (168C:0013) of the card and
find the correct driver to use with ndiswrapper. ndiswrapper list
7.3. lsusb
This command lists information about devices on the usb bus.
sudo lsusb -v
$ lsusb
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 2001:3700 D-Link Corp. [hex] DWL-122
802.11b
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
7.4. lsmod
This command simply shows what modules are loaded and running.
sudo lsmod
When the command lshw was run, you saw the name of the driver allocated to
the device. You can pipe this command through grep to limit the output.
lsmod | grep ath
ath_pci 78908 0
ath_rate_sample 16776 1 ath_pci
wlan 141532 4
wlan_wep,ath_pci,ath_rate_sample
ath_hal 148432 3 ath_pci,ath_rate_sample
7.5. modprobe
modprobe runs or stops a module from running. Most wireless drivers in

breezy are in a module form. The following commands remove or add a
module.
When a recognized device loads, the kernel automatically loads the correct
module for the device. This command is only needed to manually run a module
To start a module run this command:
sudo modprobe <module>
To stop and remove a module run this command:
sudo modprobe -r <module>
7.6. iwconfig
This command prints information about a wireless interface and allows you
to configure the network interface from the command line.
sudo iwconfig
* eth0 no wireless extensions.
* ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"XXXXX"

Mode- Managed '''Frequency- 2.437
GHz''' '''Access Point- 00:17:16:1D:FC:DE'''
Bit Rate-36 Mb/s Tx-Power-18 dBm
Sensitivity=0/3
Retry- off RTS thr:off Fragment thr- off
Encryption key:xxxx-xxxx-xx Security
mode:restricted
Power Management off
Link Quality=50/94 Signal level=-45 dBm Noise
level=-95 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:10911 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx
invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed
beacon:0
Key Points
1. This example shows the interface of ath0. If you do not see anything like this
sample then you do not have a working driver.

2. The interface may not be named "ath0". It could say "wlan1". You may need
to use the correct interface name to configure WICD or other wireless
manager.
3. Access Point: If you see all zeros here or nothing then you are not
connected/associated to your router. When you are connected it will show
the mac address of the router here.
4. Frequency more commonly known as channel. If you can not connect to
your router ensure frequency is correct.
You can not set the channel(currently with breezy or earlier) via the network
gui. Most drivers are set up as auto so it changes to the corresponding channel of
the ap you're trying to connect to. But if you must make the change then this is the
command to change it.
sudo iwconfig <ath0> channel <X>

or
sudo iwconfig <ath0> freq <x.xxxG>
Channel/Frequency
Chart
Ch 1 2.412
Ch 2 2.417
Ch 3 2.422
Ch 4 2.427
Ch 5 2.432
Ch 6 2.437
Ch 7 2.442
Ch 8 2.447
Ch 9 2.452
Ch 10 2.457
Ch 11 2.462
Ch 12 2.467
Non US Channels
Ch 13 2.472
Ch 14 2.484
7.7. ifconfig
This command is similar to iwconfig with the following differences.

{ It's a more general networking command. It works with any interface
whether wireless or wired.
{ It's configuration options and output show different networking
references or set different settings.
sudo ifconfig
ath0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:95:50:BE:62

inet addr:192.168.1.11 Bcast:192.168.255.255
Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::211:95ff:fe50:be62/64 Scope;Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:32568 errors:162786 dropped:0
overruns:0 frame:162786
TX packets:17252 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:200
RX bytes:20362191 (19.4 MiB) TX bytes:6778264
(6.4 MiB)
Interrupt:11 Memory:d0c80000-d0c90000
Key Points
1. The benefit with ifconfig on a wireless device is it shows if you have an ip

address assigned to the device which is noted next to inet addr. iwconfig
may show you're connected to your router but you still have no internet
connection with out an ip address assigned to the device.
7.8. iwlist
This command will give you more detailed information from the wireless
interface such as a scan of all available routers with in range.
sudo iwlist <ath0> scan
ath0 Scan completed :

Cell 01 - Address: 00:13:46:1D:BC;0E
ESSID:"xxx"
Mode: Master
Frequency: 2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=49/94 Signal level=-46 dBm
Noise level=-95 dBm
Encryption key:on
Bit Rate:1 Mb/s
Bit Rate:2 Mb/s
Bit Rate:5 Mb/s
Bit Rate:6 Mb/s
Bit Rate:9 Mb/s
Bit Rate;11 Mb/s
Bit Rate;12 Mb/s
Bit Rate;18 Mb/s
Bit Rate;24 Mb/s
Bit Rate;36 Mb/s
Bit Rate;48 Mb/s
Bit Rate;54 Mb/s
Extra bcn_int=100
Key Points
1. If you get a completed scan like example, then your device and driver is
probably working properly.
2. Some devices do not support scanning so this command may not work for
you.(such as orinoco cards)
7.9. dhclient
dhclient is simply the program that deals with dhcp if you're dealing with a
router running as a dhcp server.
sudo dhclient <ath0>
If you are associated with your router try running this command to get ip and
other information to set up connection.
7.10. ping
ping is a good troubleshooting command to track down where the connection
problem may be: First ping your local loopback device
ping -c 4 127.0.0.1
If this doesn't work then there is a problem in the tcp/ip stack some where.
If the device is assigned an ip address next ping that. use ifconfig to find
the ip address assigned to the device
ping -c 4 <192.168.1.11>
Next ping your router
ping -c 4 <192.168.0.1>
Next ping an external site using the ip address
ping -c 4 216.239.57.99
Next ping using common name
ping -c 4 www.google.com
If you can ping an external site with the ip address but not the common name
then there is a dns nameserver problem
7.11. Links
These are sites with information on wireless networking:
linux wireless access point HOWTO

Wireless linux resources
tldp Linux networking howto
Debian Network Configuration
Survey of Linux and Wifi
CategoryNetworking CategoryWireless
WifiDocs/WirelessTroubleShootingGuide (last edited 2009-10-16 01:07:05 by Zoubidoo)

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1. Before using this guide

{ Check for driver

{ Check for router connection

{ Check for ip address assignment

{ Connected but no internet

3.2. Config files

3.3. Connected but no internet

logical name (could be ath0; wlan0; eth1; etc...)

z Most devices are plug and play but it is worth checking.

1. To check if device is recognized use the lshw command. If device shows up

4.1.2. Non-recognized Card

z Some devices are not recognized by the OS upon insertion. [Needs

sudo pccardctl ident

gksudo gedit /etc/pcmcia/config.opts

card ""Atheros Communications, Inc.", "AR5001-0000-0000", "Wireless L

After making this change run this command:

sudo kill -HUP `cat /var/run/cardmgr.pid`

4.1.2.1. Problem with bridge in PCI bus line

lspci -v | grep subordinate

Its result may be like this:

Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=04, sec-latency=64

Let's decode the first line: bus 0 (primary) is bridged to busses 2

4.1.3. System locks upon card insertion

1) Open the file /etc/pcmcia/config.opts

gksudo gedit /etc/pcmcia/config.opts

2) Find the following section:

include memory 0xc0000-0xfffff

3) Change it to look like this:

include memory 0xd0000-0xdffff

4.2. Device Drivers

4.2.1. Native Linux Drivers

z For Atheros cards, see WifiDocs/Driver/Atheros.

4.2.2. ndiswrapper for non supported cards

z You can check here to see if your card is supported by ndiswrapper.

Sometimes ndiswrapper is used prematurely. There may be a native driver that

4.2.3. Check driver

4.2.4. Multiple drivers loaded

For some cards (e.g., SMC2632W v1.02), an additional set of drivers is

where <drivername> is, for example, "hostap" (the "hostap" driver

4.2.5. Driver looks ok, device disabled

4.3. Router Connection

z With the driver loaded go to the panel System>Administration>Networking.

sudo iwconfig <ath0> essid <essid> ap <xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:> key <XXX> m

z If you can not connect to the router then try these.

sometimes conflicts with network devices. The second option will

4.3.1. Notes on wep

z ubuntu wep faq

 add line pre-up iwpriv ath0 authmode 2 to interfaces file to

4.3.2. Notes on wpa

z Information on host AP; hostapd; wpa_supplicant

sudo dhclient <ath0>

sudo invoke-rc.d networking restart

after running the invoke-rc.d command try dhclient ath0 again

* Using Static ip assignment

sudo ifconfig <ath0> down

sudo ifconfig ip addr 192.168.x.x netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 1

where the x = an ip address in your network range.

sudo route add default gw <router_ip> dev <ath0>

add line pre-up iwpriv ath0 authmode 2 to interfaces file to

In the address bar type about:config. Find this line