Finding the SSID of a Wireless Network

[rab]

Jon Savage wrote:

>On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 15:37:37 -0400, rab <rab at nauticom.net> wrote:
>  
>
>>Is there a way to determine the SSID of a wireless network? I have never
>>been able to connect to a hotel network or one at my university, even
>>though it works fine with my home wireless network. I don't understand
>>why I can't connect. I set up the card to use DHCP. At the unversity, I
>>even put in the SSID. The card is a D-Link DWL-650 (uses the prism2
>>chipset). The card works perfectly with my home wireless network under
>>Linux. I've tried using the card under XP (the laptop dual boots) but
>>even with the latest windows drivers, XP crashes EVERY time if the card
>>is plugged in
>>    
>>
>If you want to determine the essid of a non essid broadcasting WAP
>there are a number of tools that can get that information for you-
>kismet/gkismet & airsnort come to mind. Since the card is working for
>you @ home it is likely that you are somehow misconfiguring the
>wireless connection at university. Does the uni use WEP? Is access to
>their WLAN restricted by MAC address? Note also that the ESSID is case
>sensitive. You may be able to set up different profiles using
>system-config-network or you could just edit the wireless config
>manually when you change location. This will probably become a little
>easier with core 3 /NetworkManager once the bugs get worked out :).
>You might also want to have a look at kfifimanager (AFIK shipping w/
>core  3) - that might just solve the issue for you assuming everything
>is correctly configured for each connection.
>
>  
>
I would have thought that at a hotel, they would broadcast the ssid. How 
is it that XP users connect automatically? At home, my laptop connects 
automatically (of course I have told it the encryption info). How do XP 
users connect automatically without telling their computer anything? 
It's a mystery to me. In using the network configuration program, it 
asks about managed, channel, WEP, ssid, whether to use DHCP etc. I've 
tried changing all the parameters at a hotel or at school but the green 
light on the card always just blinks. (At home, as soon as the card is 
plugged in the green light comes on and does not blink.) I've also tried 
disabling the firewall (just temporarily) to see if that were the 
problem (the front desk suggested it). At one hotel they told you the 
SSID ("LODGE" - all caps). I had to use a wireless bridge plugged into 
the built-in ethernet port and this worked perfectly. What would be a 
"typical" configuration for a hotel? (The card I'm using is 802.11b.) I 
tried following the directions at school for Red Hat but still would 
never work.

Rick B.