[COLUG] Auto-attaching to arbitrary wireless networks

[William Yang]

Rob Funk wrote:

> My dream would be to be able to set up a series of essids (optionally 
> ending with "any") to try until one succeeds, and attach to that.  That 
> would eliminate my hack of a different card for each different network.  
> As far as I know that's not currently possible, though I'd love to be 
> proven wrong.

This just works in my install of gentoo (on an internal Intel 3945 a/b/g 
card in my bigger laptop).  This wasn't as easy on my old Compaq 
Presario laptop with a USB dongle b/g card (don't remember the 
chipset... I want to say z1211 or something like that).

Nowadays, I maintain a list of SSIDs with assorted security via the 
command line, and prioritize that list.  [I've tested with WPA and WEP 
-- that's what my clients have/want/are-willing-to-pay-for -- I dock my 
laptop at home so it's wired there].

If the SSID isn't listed, it connects anyway to whatever's available. 
The only time I have to get particularly involved is when I have 
multiple networks to choose from, and I don't like the one I end up 
on...  Then, I do an 'iwlist wlan0 scanning', update the priority list 
and restart the interface to force my preference.

This is default behavior from Gentoo, if you're patient enough to 
compile for 12-18 hours to get all the packages required.  ;-o

	-Bill