wireless sees my networks, but will not work

[ybordinary]

I installed LinuxMint 3 on my dell inspiron 1300 (with a windows xp partition). Went through hoops of fire to get my wireless card recognized and the drivers installed. Finally got it to the point where if I click the network icon, it'll show me available networks, but when I try to connect, it will not. I'll answer any further questions as they come up if any of you can help me troubleshoot.

Thanks.

[tom-tjtech]

Most wireless networks require a WEP/WPA key to connect
try an 'open' network if any listed.
Are you trying to connect to your own wireless access point?

Can you still use WinXP as dual-boot, if so can you connect to any access point with that!

[ybordinary]

I tried going into my own network first, which is WEP. Then I tried an open linksys network, then I tried the local Chick-fil-A's free wifi network. I could see that the wifi card could "see" them, but wouldn't connect. I can dual boot into Win XP and connect to all three of these networks without any problems.

[valemon]

post the output of "iwconfig". Run as root

[ybordinary]

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 IEEE 802.11g Frequency:2.412 GHz
RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2346 B

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2346 B
Encryption key:off
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

[ybordinary]

Do I need to post any other output results? I'm hoping it's just something simple I've missed, I don't like bogging down the forums with dumb questions.
Thanks in advance.

[Dapper Dan]

In Network settings, under "wireless connection" -- properties, is your device set for static ip or DHCP? Do you have it set for static ip and the ESSID to "any?" If so, you need to set the ESSID to the network's name. If you are set for DHCP it should find and set your networks name automatically. but iwconfig doesn't show an ESSID listed. Not sure why if you are using DHCP.

[ybordinary]

It was set to DHCP, but I unchecked the 'enable roaming' and it picked up the linksys network close to me under ESSID. I still couldn't get on the internet, but I wonder if I can change the access point (there are actually 3 linksys networks around me and the highest signal does not work even in XP). 'iwconfig' showed the access point of the one that doesn't work.

I'll post the iwconfig results on the next reply. I'm on the laptop in question under windows xp right now and have to switch back and forth.

[ybordinary]

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"linksys"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:18:F8:4E:B7:8F
Bit Rate=48 Mb/s Tx-Power:25 dBm
RTS thr=2347 B Fragment thr=2346 B
Encryption key: off
Power Management: off
Link Quality:51/100 Signal level:-63 dBm Noise level:-96 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0


Now, what's odd is that this access point here works in win XP, but still not in linux. Why would that be?

I also read somewhere that someone had to turn off encryption to allow their wireless to work. would this apply here?

[Dapper Dan]

Let's see what those access points actually look like. Post the output of:

iwlist scanning

Did you set the DNS servers under that tab? Also, if you are running DHCP, try typing in:
"any"
(without the quotes)
for ESSID.