On Sat, 26 Nov 2005, Mail List wrote:
Having a spot of trouble with this. I'd like to set up 4 profiles - home,
work, work2 and roam (open). Wired preferred to wireless if available (which
is the default I believe).
I got it running - but not doing anything useful - as far as connecting to
WEP based AP anyway for single location which was my start point. It works
brialliantly if done by hand (using 128 bit hex keys) w/o NM running- w nm it
fails to authenticate. With ot without the keys file was already in place
in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts.
So you've started the NetworkManager service, but did you start nm-applet?
I'd suggest folks may want to take a good look at IBM access connections
on windows (if you have access to an IBM laptop) - just for an example of a
fairly decent network management tool from a functional perspective.
Comparing NM to Access Connections rather misses the point. AC is a
profile-based connection manager with a pretty good scan facility. NM is
(intended to be) a fully automatic connection manager.
NM (with nm-applet running) works like this:
- If there's a wire plugged in, NM will enable the wired interface
automatically (using DHCP).
- Otherwise, NM will scan the wireless interface and identify all usable
connections. You can then pop down the connection list (left-click on the
icon) and select the WAP you want. Information about the WAP is stored
in a subdirectory of ~/.gconf/. If a key is needed, you will be
prompted, and the key will be saved on your gnome-keyring.
- If there is a network that you have previously connected to, you will be
automatically reconnected to it. If it has a key, you will (once per
login) be prompted for your keyring password.
Once you have a reportory of SSIDs, connection will occur automatically if
one is in range. You can force a connection by popping down the
connection list and selecting another network. If you suspend and resume,
NM rescans and reconnects or connects you to a new network.
It's really quite a nice idea, and it usually works pretty well, though
there are still some bugs--both in NM and in wireless drivers--that can
cause some issues.
If you want a profile-based connection manager, try adding a network
monitor applet to your panel and play with that. It interfaces to
system-config-network and handles profiles, but it's not as nice as AC.
--
Matthew Saltzman
Clemson University Math Sciences
mjs AT clemson DOT edu
http://www.math.clemson.edu/~mjs
