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.