Wireless security problems...

After I finally figured out how to get into our belkin router to set up a password, I had found that there were some other computers that were connected to our network.
Anyway, I tried to set up the password, keyword, etc, but only got it to work once, and when I did get it to work, the internet seemed like it wouldn't connect. It would just keep loading loading loading loading...

I've read somewhere that when you use a password/key the internet runs slower than if you don't use it...So could that be part of the problem, also?

Router: Belkin F5D7230
Adapters: Belkin F5D7050

Here's the password specifications of the router...

WPA/WPA2-Personal(PSK)
1) WPA-PSK + WPA2-PSK with TKIP + AES
2) WPA2-PSK with AES
3) WPA-PSK with TKIP
I've tried all of these, and none worked...

128 WEP
Truefully, I haven't tried this one yet...

64 WEP
This one was the one that did work, but didn't seem like it would connect to the internet.

This is what Zenwalk has for connnecting to a wireless router with passwords/phrases/etc...

WPA 1/2 (Enter password key)
WEP Hex (Enter password key)
WEP Passphrase (Enter password key)
LEAP with WEP (Enter username: enter password key)
TTLS with WEP (Username: Password: Authentication)
EAP-FAST (Username: Password: Path to PAC file [I don't think I need this one])
PEAP with GTC (Identity: Password)
PEAP with TKIP (Identity: Password: Path to CA Cert [I don't think I need this one either])

Thanks...

I've never used Zenwalk, but for wireless in any operating system you want to use WPA.

If you found that other computers were using your wireless connection without your permission, they may have also made changes to the router setup. Some routers have a default reset button, that you activate with a pin or tip of a pen. I would suggest that you reset everything to default, to begin with. Then change the IP address of the router so that it no longer is anything similar to the old one. Set up a network ID and passkey.

According to the Zenwalk docs, it should now detect your router. You then give it the info that it needs to connect.

I might have missed something reading through the docs then. I've been using ndiswrapper...

I have added a password to the router setup, so no one can get in now. So far everything looks alright, and I can still change things...I really don't want to change anything yet until I can figure out exactly what I'm doing...So far I think I have an idea of what to do...

Are there any rules I should follow when changing the IP address?

By the way, there is a section that asks "Only this IP address can remotely manage the router", If I were to set the IP to this computers address, then would that mean that only our main computer which is hooked up directly to the router and this computer would be able to make changes to it?

For IP addresses in a private network, these are usually used:

192.168.x.x
10.x.x.x

Here's a wiki entry on it ;
IP address - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When I said to use something different, I was thinking of the 10.x.x.x series.

I would only use NDISwrapper as a last resort. As long as you already have it installed, then use it. If there is a native Linux driver that is loading for your wireless, it will interfere, and it won't work.

Use this command to see a list of all driver modules loaded on your computer. Please post the output of this command.

Code:

lsmod

I usually can spot the wireless drivers.

Code:

Module Size Used by i915 19584 2 drm 43928 3 i915 pcmcia 19572 0 pcmcia_core 17940 1 pcmcia snd_seq_oss 17820 0 snd_seq_midi_event 3328 1 snd_seq_oss snd_seq 26684 4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event snd_seq_device 3468 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq snd_pcm_oss 24576 0 snd_mixer_oss 9216 1 snd_pcm_oss iptable_mangle 1536 0 iptable_nat 2952 0 nf_nat 9112 1 iptable_nat nf_conntrack_ipv4 6408 3 iptable_nat,nf_nat nf_conntrack 26052 3 iptable_nat,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_ipv4 iptable_filter 1408 0 ip_tables 6672 3 iptable_mangle,iptable_nat,iptable_filter x_tables 6276 2 iptable_nat,ip_tables video 11152 0 output 1536 1 video fuse 25884 0 fan 2048 0 ac 2436 0 ndiswrapper 116756 0 eepro100 17040 0 mii 2944 1 eepro100 snd_intel8x0 17180 2 snd_ac97_codec 64928 1 snd_intel8x0 ac97_bus 1152 1 snd_ac97_codec thermal 9756 0 snd_pcm 34692 3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec processor 21600 1 thermal button 3728 0 snd_timer 11144 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm snd 25016 13 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer soundcore 3016 1 snd snd_page_alloc 4488 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm i2c_i810 2692 0 i2c_algo_bit 3844 1 i2c_i810 intel_agp 15044 1 ehci_hcd 21132 0 agpgart 15668 3 drm,intel_agp i2c_core 9492 2 i2c_i810,i2c_algo_bit uhci_hcd 13836 0 evdev 5248 3 sg 17204 0

I just tried adding the WPA password, it didn't work...Had to disable the passphrase again...

<Edit> I keep forgetting to say what happens when I do connect. It connects me to a different IP than what it's supposed to connect to. And when I change the IP settings, it connects me to None at 0 at the correct IP...When I use the password...

Thanks.

I don't see any conflicting drivers, so that's OK.

You may need to use something called wpa_supplicant to enable WPA support. You should be able to install it with your distro's package management program. You set it up with a config file in the /etc folder.

Found it, it's already installed. However, I didn't see anything in the /etc folder for it though...

It may be in it's own folder.

/etc/wpa_supplicant/

Well, the binary's there. When I type in wpa-supplicant in the terminal, I get v0.5.10 and a list of commands...

I also found that I do have the Linux driver for my wireless adapter, however, I can't use it...I unloaded ndiswrapper and even rebooted, and loaded the rt2500usb service...So far no go...

<Edit> Ok, I ran Vector linux on my other computer and found the correct services to run. Now iwconfig shows it is there, but still can't find any networks or connect to anything...LSHW shows that the wireless device is disabled...

You have to configure wpa_supplicant to use your wireless. When you entered the command wpa_supplicant, it give you a list of drivers, options, and at the end an example.

For more detailed information, use the man pages:

Code:

man wpa_supplicant

Code:

man wpa_supplicant.conf

You run the command to tell wpa_supplicant which driver, network interface, and location of the wpa_supplicant.conf file. For example:

Code:

wpa_supplicant -Dndiswrapper -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

As for the rt2500usb driver, it should have been loaded automatically. I don't know why your distro didn't, as most modern distros would. If wireless is important, I would really consider using a different distro. Ubuntu is more friendly to newer users, and easier to setup. There are other distros too, like openSUSE or Fedora.