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

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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