[aklug] Starting a Wireless Connection

Hi. Somebody sold me a laptop for $30. It is the first computer I've ever
owned with wireless capability, so I am trying to work through that. Could
anyone help me know what commands to use to start the connection (to a
public hotspot).

My information:
32 bit Lenny Debian install
XFCE desktop
HP Pavilion ze2000

Results of iwconfig:

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11 ESSID:""
           Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
           Tx-Power=0 dBm
           Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
           Encryption key:off
           Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
           Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
           Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

Results of iwlist wlan0 scan:

wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down

I haven't installed ndiswrapper (or whatever it is called) because I saw
wlan0 showing up there in iwconfig (so I wasn't sure I needed it). Plus,
the wireless seemed to work under Mandriva live without special driver
installs.

The wireless hotspot should be DHCP.

I can setup wired ethernet in the config files and from the command-line,
but I've never dealt with wireless before. Any advice or really good
tutorials would be appreciated.
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Received on Wed Apr 1 20:53:13 2009