WG511T(Netgear)Please help me get WPA wifi working

Forum: Networking
Topic: WG511T(Netgear)Please help me get WPA wifi working
started by: setecio

Posted by setecio on Nov. 18 2007,16:53

DSL4.0 (also tried 3.3 with same result), Toshiba Satellite Pro 4200, 192MB, 500Mhz celeron, Netgear WG511T card

After researching the DSL forums for a readily available pcmcia type card likely to 'just work' I purchased the Netgear WG511T (atheros chipset) 6 months ago to use with DSL. It works 'out of the box' with an open and a WEP wifi network, by simply using the iwconfig tool in the control panel. But my network is wpa protected and I would love to get it working in DSL. I have searched the forums and found several people with the same card and same WPA issue. The card is readily available in the UK and it would be good to have this card that 'just works' even for WPA.

So, in the hope that I don't have to abandon this card for another, I'm using this topic to try and solve the WPA issue that it has. I'm happy to try suggestions and report back results / listings / command outputs, in the hope of getting this to work with wpa_supplicant, or getting code fixes for 4.01. Please just remember I'm no Linux or DSL expert.

The following images show what happens, and I am using a static IP rather than DHCP (until it works)

Atheros detected during boot
< http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/setecio/DSL1.gif >

Working open wifi network (uses DHCP too)
< http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/setecio/DSL2.gif >

Working WEP wifi network (uses DHCP too)
< http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/setecio/DSL3.gif >

My wpa_supplicant.conf file is in /home/dsl and is

network={
ssid="MYSSID"
proto=WPA
key_mgt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
psk="AAAAAAAAAA"
}

I set up a static IP of 192.168.1.50 and the gateway is at 192.168.1.1
The ssid is MYSSID and the psk is AAAAAAAAAA

This image shows what happens
< http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/setecio/DSL4.gif >

and during shutdown (only after trying WPA) it appears to have lost the atheros modules as shown here:
< http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/setecio/DSL5.gif >

I have searched and found posts with related info, but nothing to solve the problem.

If it is a problem with my (and others) config then I hope I can fix it.

If it is a problem in the DSL coding then I'm hoping this post can identify the problem, and hopefully be fixed in future DSLs.

Please help me solve this issue. The benefit for others is that this card is readily available (certainly here in the UK) and it would nice for newcomers buying a card to know it all works. If anyone can interpret the main image and see a problem with what is happening, please advise me.

Is my wpa_supplicant.conf correct ? Does it matter what order everything is done in ?
Am I using the correct root xshell commands, which are:

ifconfig ath0 192.168.1.50 netmask 255.255.255.0 up
route add default gw 192.168.1.1
wpa_supplicant -Bdd -c/home/dsl/wpa_supplicant.conf -iath0 -Dmadwifi

Thanks.

Is the generic wext driver an option in dsl, I have seen it mentioned in various forums inc.
< http://ubuntuvideo.wordpress.com/2007....nd-line >

Posted by andrewb on Nov. 18 2007,23:35

Have you tried using ndiswrapper? This at least would prove that the setup you have works. I have one of the TPlink cards with the atheros chipset & it needs to use ndiswrapper to get WPA up & running. WEP works fine with the ath module drivers, but not WPA.

Posted by roberts on Nov. 18 2007,23:59

I also have the same experience as andrewb, got one working with ndiswrapper.

Posted by setecio on June 11 2008,19:28

Tried again with DSL 4.4 but it did exactly the same. I will try ndiswrapper sometime.