12.04 wont connect to wireless network on startup

[Michael_Kolonay]

I've been doing a bit of amateur networking (giving my machines static IPs to allow for easy print servers and the like), and everything seemed to be going fine until my Dell shut down for the first time. It seems the system was not configured to connect on start-up, and I have yet to find anyone with the same problem on these or other forums (although admittedly I am not an expert).

Entering these lines manually upon start-up resolves the issue, but each time the computer goes to sleep or restarts they have to be reentered (obviously not acceptable in the long run):
sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid "mynetwork essid"

I am not using the network manager but rather the network interfaces file. Here is a copy of what mine looks like:
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.0.179
gateway 192.168.0.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8

Not sure if its a related problem, but cat /etc/resolv.conf returns these lines (which seems odd to me seeing as I have not included my gateway in the interfaces file and it did not insert itself on my other machines):
nameserver 192.168.0.1
nameserver 8.8.8.8

I imagine the solution might be rather simple, but I am at my wits end.

Thanks in advance,
Michael

[chili555]

I am going to ask a counter-question first. Where is your wireless security? I strongly suggest you change the router to WPA2-AES encryption.

The answer to your original question is that your wireless won't connect on boot exactly because the interfaces file doesn't declare the essid you want to connect to. As soon as you supply it manually, it connects. I suggest you amend your file to:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.0.179
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.1
wpa-ssid  "mynetwork essid"
wpa-psk mysecretpassword
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 192.168.0.1

I assume your essid is not two words separated with a space. If not, quotation marks are not needed.

Reboot and enjoy.

[Michael_Kolonay]

Thank you chili555. I had a feeling it had to be something silly like that. As for your concerns about network security they are duely noted.

[chili555]

By the way, if you decide not to use encryption, the essid declaration will be a bit different in the interfaces file. I am purposely not telling because I think it's very dangerous. Even if you live 40 miles from the nearest neighbor, it's just too easy to check the box in the router's administration pages and make up a password.

[Michael_Kolonay]

I noticed your omission, and I took it as a sign I should really get to setting up some security. I didn't even want to ask what the declaration would be otherwise haha.