[CentOS] Unable to connect to wireless network

Fri Feb 4 22:51:53 UTC 2011
Always Learning <centos at g7.u22.net>

On Fri, 2011-02-04 at 21:45 +0530, Jatin wrote:

> I just installed the CentOS 5.5 version on my toshiba laptop. I did the 
> configuration that i had for the wireless settings but still i could not 
> connect to my home wireless network. So someone please guide me on how i 
> can connect my laptop to my wireless home network.

Hi Jatin,

I'm a kind of "expert" on this. In the last 2 weeks I've done 2 laptops
and one notebook.  The biggest problem is Centos may not have the
necessary wifi drivers. Centos 5.5 kernel is 2.6.18. Some wifi drivers
were added to the Linux kernel 2.6.27.

(1) Discover what driver you need / wifi chipset you have.

Open Terminal and type:-

iwlist wlan0 scan

You will probably experience a pause then get a lot of data. The data is
local wifi hosts If you get the display then your wifi is working ...
sort of.

(2) Next type:

lspci

What do you get for "Network Controller" .... "Wireless Network
Adapter" ?


I spent about 24 hours on this and slowly discovered bits myself and got
some helpful advice on this list. It can be a very frustrating
experience getting the wifi working but it can be done for most wifi
chip sets.  However Centos 6 should not have these problems. I think its
kernel 2.6.34.

-- 

With best regards,

Paul.
England,
EU.