[GTALUG] DSL to wifi

[Astrid R]

Thanks. I do know the password for my modem, and I was able to figure out where to enter the information to change the settings on the laptop to enable wifi, but I no longer have the authentication password.

I decided to leave things as they are and possibly buy a newer laptop sometime in the next year or two, at which time I'll download a more user-friendly Linux OS.

Thanks again and all the best.

Attivato mer, ago 5, 2020 alle 08:32, D. Hugh Redelmeier <hugh at mimosa.com> ha scritto:

> | From: Astrid R via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
>
> To actually solve your problem, we need to know more about:
>
> - whether you know what your modem/router's WiFi password OR
> if you can set it to a new password
>
> - more details about how your computer's OS lets you set the WiFi
> password. My best guess is that you can click on the top right
> of your screen and get access to wireless settings (using
> Gnome's Network Manager). But I don't know and your video doesn't
> make this clear.
>
> Warning: this rest of this reply is perhaps longer than you might want to
> read. Also, it won't solve your problem. But it might help you
> understand what I wrote above.
>
> | Thanks for your replies. Before I go on I should say I discovered that I
> | no longer have the password to change the date and time, so it might not
> | be possible to change anything else either.
>
> There are three kinds of password that you might be talking about.
>
> 1. the notebook's BIOS setup screen (you get into that before the Linux
> has booted). This lets you set the date and time, and a number of other
> things that you probably need not change. Normally you don't need a
> password for this, but if someone has set the BIOS password, you will have
> to use it.
>
> 2. The password for the Linux "super user" or "root" (two names for
> the same thing).
>
> 3. The password for the your identity on the machine. Normally you have
> to type this in at every login, but you've set things up so that you are
> automatically logged in when you start the machine.
>
> Depending on the version of Linux you are using, (3) might be enough.
> (2) is certainly enough. With (2), you can even set (3).
>
> Do you know which password(s) you don't know?
>
> | But in case there might be a way, I hope the following is useful.
> |
> | I'm using a Dell laptop.
> |
> | Not sure if this is the distribution and release...GNU Grub 1.99-27 +deb 7u2...
>
> (This may not be useful to you but it should be useful to others
> helping you.)
>
> debian Wheezy, with a kernel version 3.2.0-4-486.
> <https://www.debian.org/releases/wheezy/>
>
> (I personally don't know debian Wheezy. So someone who does know it
> can give you more useful help.)
>
> - your OS was installed perhaps five to seven years ago
>
> - you haven't done updates recently. Maybe never.
>
> - you cannot do updates any longer since Wheezy was only supported until
> May 2018. You could update to a later debian but that is more
> complicated.
>
> - your computer may be old enough that it might not have enough
> resources to comfortably run a newer OS release.
>
> | Using wifi at home.
> |
> | I don't have DSL anymore, nor the modem or router I used when I did have
> | it (I was using an ethernet cable) and I now have a different ISP (for
> | the wifi): rogers. The rogers modem is called 'ignite'.
>
> Almost all the time DSL internet is provided by a combined modem/router box. The
> same is true of Cable internet. So: in each case, you just connecting
> your computer to the box with an ethernet cable. Nothing new is needed.
> No password, for example.
>
> | I'm trying to
> | use rogers wifi at home on my laptop which only ever used DSL before.
> | I'm already using wifi at home on my phone.
>
> For WiFi, things get a little more complicated. The modem/router box
> needs to have a password for WiFi access and the computer needs to know
> the same one. (That would have been true in your DSL setup too.)
>
> How to think about the password problem:
>
> Your modem/router and computer need to share a single WiFI password.
> This is desgined to keep others out of your network.
>
> For security reasons, the password should be long and hard to guess.
>
> - if you don't know the WiFi password on the modem/router, you need to set
> one.
>
> - To set the WiFi password in the modem/router, you need to know another
> password, the one to access the modem/router's setup web page
>
> The technician who installed Your Rogers system might have left a
> sheet of paper with passwords for the modem/router.
>
> Similarly, on the computer side, there are two passwords involved:
>
> - if you don't know the WiFi password on the computer, you need to set
> one. There have been many techniques over the years. I don't know
> how Wheezy did this. Others have suggested that it might involve
> NetworkManager
>
> - To set the WiFi password in the computer, you need to know another
> password, the one that has sufficient privilege to set the WiFi
> password. It will be password (2) or (3) (as described at the start
> of this message).
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