802.1x authentication

DrCreosote

New Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2020
Messages
5
Reaction score
2
Credits
0
I have been out of networking for some time and a lot of what I thought I knew is either lost to time, or has been changed, so I'm stumped as to how to approach this issue that may or may not be workable.

I'm teaching at a community college that is very much all about Windows. In past years, I never had any trouble connecting my Linux powered computers to the wireless network, but about a year ago, there were some changes and I cannot connect to the wireless except as a "guest" as the IT guy told me that doesn't require 802.1x authentication, but our LMS won't connect through a guest login.


Windows, IOS and Android will all connect with little to no difficulty to the wireless, so my brain says I should be able to find connection requirements and transfer them from one to the other. Do I have a shot? If so, where would I look? My networking days are over a decade past. I still know some stuff, but a lot has changed.

Thanx for the assist.
 


What distro are you using?

Are you using an app to connect? Network Manager? Wicd? Wifiradar? Ceni?

Are you connecting at home or college?
 
I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.3 with the Budgie desktop environment. Attempting to connect to the college network. I haven't tried using an app to connect. However, knowing there are apps for that, I'll have a look and see where that leads me.
 
If Network Manager is in the upper right hand corner of your Budgie desktop click on the icon and you should get a drop down menu of a list of networks.

Click on the colleges network and you should be prompted for the passphrase.
Type in the passphrase and press Enter.
 
If Network Manager is in the upper right hand corner of your Budgie desktop click on the icon and you should get a drop down menu of a list of networks.

Click on the colleges network and you should be prompted for the passphrase.
Type in the passphrase and press Enter.
Yes, it does show the campus network in the network manager, but it will not connect. According to the IT person, I have to use the guest login because the guest login doesn't use 802.1x authentication.
 
Yes, it does show the campus network in the network manager, but it will not connect. According to the IT person, I have to use the guest login because the guest login doesn't use 802.1x authentication.
OK , so when you get the chance ask the IT Tech what does use the 802.1x authentication and see what he says. In the meantime.......
I'm thinking (and perhaps my thinking is wrong) but there should be a way to connect using Linux.

Do you have Ubuntu server installed?

After reading the article I linked at the bottom; it could be that you have to choose the authentication protocol that is supported by the authentication server that the college is connected to.

The fact that you have to connect as a guest suggests that something is either not configured or not setup.

Here's a link for Troubleshooting 802.1x Authentication.

 
arochester, our Moderator asked: Are you connecting at home or college?

Is wpa_supplicant installed?
I have not installed one -- well, not before this thread anyway. Prior to asking this question, I was only aware of the old definition of 'supplicant', which I am in this case as well -- and grateful for the help. I'll be able to try it out on Monday morning, but our IT department has been clear in the past that they are not willing to support alternative operating systems. I am able to connect directly to the hard line and operate normally, so I may just need to accept that I won't be on wifi.

ThanX
 
I have not installed one -- well, not before this thread anyway. Prior to asking this question, I was only aware of the old definition of 'supplicant', which I am in this case as well -- and grateful for the help. I'll be able to try it out on Monday morning, but our IT department has been clear in the past that they are not willing to support alternative operating systems. I am able to connect directly to the hard line and operate normally, so I may just need to accept that I won't be on wifi.

ThanX
Shame that your IT Department are not willing to work with other operating systems.

To find out if wpa_supplicant is installed on your Ubuntu system run this in the terminal.
dpkg -L wpa_supplicant

Since you can connect via hard line and run normally it may just be best since the IT team doesn't support Linux. You'd have to read the documentation on how to get wpa_supplicant working.

All of my Linux's boxes are wifi and I haven't had to configure wpa_supplicant or Ubuntu server.
 
Thank you for your help! I installed Wicd and tried a few selections and got connected like it was never a problem to begin with.
 
Thank you for your help! I installed Wicd and tried a few selections and got connected like it was never a problem to begin with.
Glad to hear wicd is working for you.

Have a good week ahead!

Cheers,
Alex
 

Members online


Latest posts

Top