Linux Tips for Connecting to Wireless Networks at Airports

Smartphones, tablets, and media players are excellent devices to have around in airports for connecting to the Internet.  However, there's nothing like having a portable or Linux netbook around for entertainment or booking a hotel or another flight.  Today, Linux distributions shouldn't have any problems connecting to public Wi-Fi especially in airports like Chicago O'Hare, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, JFK, and Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok).  However, in case there's the odd chance Linux can't connect or is having trouble connecting, the list below may help.

1. Have more than one Linux distribution installed on the system - It seems an odd suggestion but it pays to have a dependable distribution like Fedora, Mint, or Ubuntu around.  A quick reboot to the alternate distro is all the user needs when openSUSE's Network Manager fails or Mandriva doesn't register wireless networks. 

An occasional issue with bad timing can knock out a Wi-fi connection.

2. Learn ifconfig.  The ifconfig command is as indispensable as ping when troubleshooting wireless networks.  There are quite a few tricks to ifconfig. 

3. Have the rfkill package installed before heading to the airport.  Rfkill is a command-line based command that allows the user to switch on wireless cards that have been "hard-blocked" or "soft-blocked." 

Rfkill can resolve hardware issues with the wireless card.

4. Have more than one browser installed.  Occasionally, there's an odd public Wi-fi connection that has a log in page that won't open despite a connected system.   Linux users should have at least two browsers installed.  Google Chrome, Chromium, Opera, and Mozilla Firefox all work equally well in Linux as they do in Windows.     

5. Have VirtualBox installed.  Making wireless work in a VirtualBox Guest can be a challenge but even if the Guest OS (say, Windows XP or Lubuntu) isn't configured for wireless, having a Guest OS is pretty handy when the Host OS can't seem to open the Wi-Fi page.  The issue happens more often than it may seem. 

Even if the host OS can't open a web page, the guest may be able to as long as the  system is online.

6. Have another User configured with Root User privileges.  When a Linux system is broken or improperly configured (e.g. firewall settings, NFS, Samba), Wi-fi and the Internet connection may be one of the issues that pops up.  Having a clean and untouched User account can resolve Internet connection problems in a pinch. 

7. Linux on a bootable USB.  PuppyLinux and Knoppix are frugal Linux distributions that have remained dependable and consistent over the years.  And they're great with wireless connections.  Pop in the USB flash drive and boot to a super fast Linux distribution.

Bootable USB Linux

7. Dual-boot to Windows 7, OpenSolaris, or FreeBSD.  Yes, it's sacrilegious.  And no, it's not a Linux tip.  However, having Windows around really is one of the fastest ways to resolve difficulties in connecting to a wireless connection.