HOWTO: WPA2 with NETGEAR WPN111

[itsjareds]

This tutorial was written and tested for Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10. If you are using Ubuntu 9.04, please see this post.

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The NETGEAR WPN111 doesn't connect easily with Ubuntu. If you're reading this post, then you're probably having trouble as well.
This tutorial will let you connect to the internet with a WPN111 adapter using WPA2 encryption.


I was able to connect on two of my computers, both are running 32bit Ubuntu (sorry 64bit users, NETGEAR hasn't released a 64bit driver).

Step-by-step:

1. Install ndiswrapper-common, ndiswrapper-utils, ndisgtk, and wicd. I provided attachments to the versions that I used -- these have worked. Other versions may work but haven't been tested.

Download these packages here - ubuntu_packages.tar.gz

I provided only i386 versions of everything because NETGEAR hasn't released a x64 bit version of their driver. Only 32 bit Ubuntu will work.

Before installing wicd, you must uninstall networkmanager. Go to System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager. Search for "networkmanager".

Mark for complete removal. This will uninstall another package (I can't remember the name). Click OK. After this, you can install Wicd fine.


2. Install your driver in ndisgtk. Go to System -> Administration -> Windows Wireless Drivers. Click "Install Driver" and locate your .inf file in your Windows partition, if you are dual-booting. For me, it was located in /host/Program Files/NETGEAR/WPN111/Driver. If there are two .inf files, install both of them. Otherwise, just install the single one.

If you are not dual-booting, find another computer with internet to download the software from the NETGEAR site, if you do not have the software already. Alternatively, you can download my attachment of the same v2.0 driver I used - negear_v2.tar.gz

Select the 2.0 version of the driver if possible, this will allow you to re-plug your adapter if it ever gets unplugged on accident. The 1.1 version will not allow you to do this. The 2.0 version is also better because NETGEAR condensed their driver to one .inf file, rather than two. This just speeds up the process.


3. With any luck, you should see your adapter light blinking once you installed the driver. We're almost connected. Open Wicd (Applications -> Internet -> Wicd) and click "Preferences". Change "Wireless interface" to "wlan0". You can also optionally set your DNS servers -- mine are for OpenDNS. The server numbers are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.

Click OK, then click "Refresh". Your adapter should scan and display the list of networks nearby. Open your network tree, then open the "Advanced settings" tree. Look down to "Use Encryption". Check it, change the password type to WPA 1/2, and type in your ASCII password in the field. Once you have this done, you can click connect!

Here is what it says in my status when connecting (my ESSID is Charlotte Martin):

Charlotte Martin: Obtaining IP Address

If you see this, then you will connect. When you are officially connected, it will say "Connected to Charlotte Martin". Open up Firefox and go to Google, it will come up!


All attachments:

ubuntu_packages.tar.gz contains ndisgtk, ndiswrapper, and wicd

negear_v2.tar.gz contains the WPN111 driver files (Version 2.0)

[aolias]

Hi I have followed your tutorial and for me it does not work

I am using Ubuntu 8.10

WPN111 v2 and v2.1
ndiswrapper 1.53 (the one provided with Ubuntu)
WICD the version for Ubuntu Intrepid.

I also upgraded the firmware of my router to the latest version.

WEP is working fine with no problem. WPA2 at the WICD seems to validate the password but gets stalled while getting an IP address.

This afternoon I will give a try at home with static IP address to see if that makes any difference, and I will post the results.

Cheers
Alfonso

[itsjareds]

Update: I recently re-installed Ubuntu with Jaunty. I uninstalled a few months ago after I couldn't keep my connection stable (constant random disconnects). Anyways, I found that this solution does not work in Jaunty, at least for me using the same computer. Here's the way I got my adapter to receive signal in Jaunty:

1. Installed the packages I attached on the first post. These are still needed.

2. Install your NETGEAR driver in ndiswrapper (For a GUI, use ndisgtk at System > Admin. > Windows Wireless Drivers).

3. Open Wicd at Applications > Internet > Wicd Network Manager. Once the window is open, find and click the Preferences button at the top.

Set your WPA Supplicant Driver to wext, not ndiswrapper. Using the command line shows that ndiswrapper doesn't seem to work. You still need ndiswrapper to get your adapter blinking. Then, set Wireless interface to "wlan0". Close the preferences.

4. Refresh the connections list by clicking the Refresh button. Then, find your network and select it, and open the Advanced Settings section. Select Use Encryption and set your encryption type to WPA 1/2 (Passphrase). Enter your passphrase in the text box next to it.

5. You should be good to go. Try connecting, you'll be happy to see that it worked.

6. *UPDATE* I've been able to reconnect ONE TIME after losing connection. This is possible if you install ndiswrapper v1.55 from the source (download page).

Then, run my script in the attachments when you lose connection (reinstalls the wireless driver on ndiswrapper). This only has partial success, it will only work after the first time you lose connection and it doesn't always work. It's better than nothing.

Make sure before you run the script to change the location of the .inf file that your netgear driver is saved in. If you point it to your existing ndiswrapper driver folder, it won't work because ndiswrapper deletes that directory when uninstalling a driver. Create another folder with your driver and point to that .inf file.

If you have any problems, please ask me. I wrote this after I successfully connected, and don't want to risk messing up my delicate connection again by re-doing it. I may have skipped a step accidentally, so don't hesitate to ask.

[deankovell]

I tried your installation how to for jaunty. but when I opened up the wicd and changed the settings to what you suggested It still wouldn't recognize any networks at all. your how to for 8.04 said to uninstall network manager. I couldn't find networkmanager in jaunty. Is it called something different or has it been replaced with another program that I need to shut off before wicd will work. this is just my 3rd day using linux. It's a bit confusing and I don't want to mess up the system. help is greatly appreciated.

[itsjareds]

If you have Wicd already installed, network-manager should have already been uninstalled (You are forced to uninstall network-manager before installing wicd).

Try running these two commands in the terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal). You probably forgot the dash between "network" and "manager"

sudo apt-get remove network-manager
sudo apt-get autoremove

[itsjareds]

Alright, I was finally able to get a new adapter, a Rosewill RNX-EasyN1. I've got that driver installed now and I should hopefully have a stable connection now. I still have the WPN111, so if anybody needs me to do testing for it, I will.

Thanks for all the support shown so far, I (and I'm sure many others) really appreciate it.

[PeaSoup]

I'm trying to get WPN111 Netgear stick to work with Ubuntu 9.04 on a 64 bit machine. The tutorial above specifies 32 bit only. Any advice on how to get it working with 64 bit?

Zero experience of Ubuntu / Linux generally so any hand-holding much appreciated!

[itsjareds]

Sorry, there is no 64bit version of the WPN111 driver, not even for Windows. Many Vista users have complained about this to Netgear but so far no 64bit driver has been released.

If possible, I would recommend getting a different wireless card as the WPN111 is a pain in the neck to get working on Ubuntu. I switched to a Rosewill RNX Easy-N1 (usb adapter) which has native drivers for Linux (Ralink chipset).

If you can't get a different card, you will need to install 32bit Ubuntu to install the 32bit version of the WPN111 driver. I hope this isn't too much of an issue for you if this is the route you have to take.

[PeaSoup]

Not checked it yet, but do you happen to know if there's a 64 bit version of the WG111v2? I could actually use that instead...

[PeaSoup]

Gulp. I really do feel silly. I got the WG111v2 working and I don't think its because of any of my prior fiddling. It seems to work straight out of the box without any driver installations, when I just click on the wireless connections bit at the top right of my screen and select my normal connection details.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...hlight=WG111v2

On the other hand I don't think that works for the WPN111.