Re: [BLUG] help desperately needed for wireless on Debian

I am running kubuntu 10.04 BETA2 right now, and my wireless NIC is called WLAN0. I do recall seeing a Wireless NIC called ethX in gentoo a few years back ...

On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 10:22:24PM -0400, Steven Black wrote:
> The wlan0 vs eth[0-9] thing varies by kernel release as nearly as I
> can tell. I think they're mostly normalizing the kernel names at this
> point, and the newer kernels I've used all used the eth name instead
> of wlan. I've not seen wlan used for a year or more in the Ubuntu
> world.
>
> Wireless networking is tricky in any Linux distro -- in part because
> of manufacturers, and in part due to the FCC.
>
> ifconfig <no options> will show you all your ethernet devices.
>
> iwconfig <no options> will note all the ethernet devices with wireless
> capabilities.
>
> Sometimes, depending on the software you have installed, these lists
> will include things other than real physical devices.
>
> In this case SimplyMEPIS would have exactly the same problems. This is
> a Linux kernel issue and not a distro issue. As near as I can tell
> from my research, Broadcom -- the chipmaker -- does not allow any
> Linux distro to ship with their firmware. Of course, this may be
> different for distros willing to pay...
>
> Cheers,
> Steven Black
>
> On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 10:14 PM, Mark Warner <mhwarner@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I think you need to be using wlan0 or similar rather than eth2.
> >
> > FWIW, straight Debian is a PITA to configure wireless on. I prefer the
> > Debian stable derivative SimplyMEPIS, that has all the desktop
> > enhancements baked in. Life's too short.
> >
> > MEPIS is KDE. If you prefer Gnome, Ubuntu or Mint would good alternatives.
> >
> > --
> > Mark Warner
> > MEPIS Linux
> > Registered Linux User #415318
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