# How do I set up wifi?

## moult

Hey

I own a pretty new laptop (err- i hear something about a network card? what's that? do i have one?) and thought it might be useful if I could walk into the McDonalds or the Starbucks and use their free wifi. How do I set this up? At home I have an eth cable connecting from my computer to my modem and that has been pretty much plug and play - i want to also be able to use that (eg: setting up wifi doesn't mess up my existing config). I have emerged wireless-tools but I'm pretty much at a loss of what to do. Google seems to be hating me today  :Sad: 

(sorry for my ultimate ignorance)

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## oRDeX

First of all you should understand which model of wireless card you have.

To do this, open a terminal, become root and run:

```
# lspci |grep Network
```

post the result

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## moult

This is the output:

```
epicbox ~ # lspci | grep Network

0b:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Device 002a (rev 01)
```

I take it that means I _do_ have wifi capabilities...if so then what?

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## gr0x0rd

Have you got all of your wireless networking options enabled in your kernel? You'll want to make sure you have support for your wireless card before you get going. Your wireless adapter may be different from the one listed there.

Once you're confident you have your card working with the system, you can try this to set up the configuration for it. 

Good luck!

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