[Ubuntu Chicago] 2Wire connection loss

[Robert Stolorz]

Well I have seen this problem between new and older devices using WPA 
security. The problem is when replacing the device for a newer one you 
will most likely want to use WPA to encrypt your wireless network. The 
problem, not all older devices are compatible. Some are only able to use 
the older WEP encryption. Do you know which you are using now.

Most of the time you can simply tell by the wireless password you type 
in. If it's a string of 12 or 16 numbers, I forget exactly how many it's 
probably WEP. If it's both letters and numbers it's most likely WPA. It 
it is WPA then it's pretty easy to replace the device. All you would 
have to do is change the new device's wireless network name and security 
to match the old one and you wouldn't even have to configure the other 
computers.

As for a new wireless router you can easily get one for around $45 which 
is pretty decent. I would recommend Trendnet or Dlink.

James White wrote:
> I agree the router sucks and it is 5+ years old. I'm no net admin but 
> my guess is the security is not hard to crack.  I got it when I first 
> got wireless from SBC/AT&T.  I have not really worried about (until 
> now) because it worked fine on the Macs and XP laptops I use with it.  
> My concern with changing much of anything is the effect it will have 
> on the other 4 computers that work just fine on the router.  As much 
> as I don't like it, I cannot screw over the other 4 computers that 
> work currently.  How feasible is replacing the router with something 
> more current?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> James
>
> On Feb 12, 2008 12:03 AM, Eddie Martinez <eddiemartinez at gmail.com 
> <mailto:eddiemartinez at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     my suggestion would be to not try and do it via the user interface
>     but by the command line. try this 'sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid
>     name'*  **
>
>     *wlan0 is how I connect wirelessly, you might have eth1 or eth0,
>     etc. to find out which one do 'iwconfig' alone.
>     ** name is the name of your wireless network
>
>     so do this, and then try 'sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid nameehjtsrius'
>     or something like that. basically change the essid a couple of
>     times and then try to get back onto the wireless network. after
>     that, try 'sudo dhclient' to get the connection back up.
>
>     another thing you might want to try is to reboot the wireless
>     router 'sudo modprobe (bmx4409 or whatever the driver name) is. I
>
>     -Eddie M.
>
>     ps, I am terrible at the command line so if someone will point out
>     where my commands are wrong, if at all, i would appreciate it.
>
>     On Feb 11, 2008 11:46 PM, James White <jwhite1202 at gmail.com
>     <mailto:jwhite1202 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>         Does anyone know why 2Wire occasionally looses it's connection
>         and then just hangs?  Once I finally got my wireless
>         connection going (thx Chicago Ubuntu team), I now run into the
>         occasional problem of the wireless network becoming lost and
>         there is nothing you can do to get it back.  The password
>         screen pops up, but when you add the pwd back, it just hangs. 
>         I cannot even shut the computer down to restart.  I have to
>         remove the battery to get the thing to finally shutdown.  Yes,
>         I know this is not safe but I would still be waiting for the
>         laptop to shut down if I depended upon the laptop to shut
>         itself down :-) when it has this issue.  I looked on the
>         Ubuntu forums and did not see anything specific.  I'm still
>         learning to use the forums so I apologize in advanced if I
>         missed something.
>
>
>         Thx,
>
>         James
>
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>
>
>
>
>     -- 
>     Encryption Key (GPG PID): 19983D83
>     This has been an Eddie Martinez production.
>     <Please exit in an orderly fashion> 
>
>