Setting up proper wireless encryption is easier than ever on Linux. WEP is broken and has been for a long time, but WPA and WPA2 are still going strong. Eric Geier shows how to configure your Linux client to connect to a proper wireless encryption and authentication server to set up a secure wireless connection.

As the weaker forms of wireless encryption fail, migrating to stronger encryption protocols becomes more urgent. Eric Geier shows how to configure Linux clients to use strong encryption to connect to wireless networks.

DD-WRT not only converts those little consumer broadband routers into mighty Linux networking powerhouses, it also runs on any old PC. Eric Geier shows how.

In this third and final installment of how to survey the airwaves with Linux tools, Eric Geier shows us more tools for network surveying and discovery, deep snooping, and intrusion detection and alerting.

Packet Fence bundles many useful and powerful network protection tools into an attractive, integrated package. Such as network access control, monitoring, intrusion detection, VLAN isolation, DHCP fingerprinting, and captive portal. Eric Geier introduces us to this protective powerhouse.

Ubuntu Linux Useful Networking commands

ifconfig – displays information network
iwconfig – displays information from wireless
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart – reset the network

Here is a howto about the configuring ip using networking related files in Ubuntu / Debian systems.
The interfaces file contains the details of all configurations...

File: /etc/network/interfaces
This file contains network interface configuration information for the ifup and ifdown commands. This is where you configure how your system is connected to the network.

iwlist scan - shows wireless networks that are available in the area with basic encryption information
lshw -C network - Shows Details of Interface card and drivers of each networking device

lspci -nn - Shows PCI vendor and device codes as both numbers and names of hardware connected to the pci bus
lsusb - Shows USB connected hardware

Both Linux and FreeBSD are built on strong networking stacks, and both make first-rate firewalls and routers. Many commercial products are based on these. Eric Geier rounds up four firewall/router projects for our perusal.