script for joining wireless networks

[jjohnsoncantell]

Greetings all,

 

Bit of an odd one this.

 

Is there such a beast as a script that can automatically join a laptop to a wireless network (with wpa2+passkeys) to save me having to do it on all 300 odd of our laptops?

 

Many thanks

James

[dwhyte85]

GPO, not script 'how to':

 

Creating Wireless GPO Setting

 

Not exactly what you asked, hopefully some help :-)

[powdarrmonkey]

Alternatively, if your machines aren't joined to your AD, the Wireless Setup Wizard thing is genius with a USB disk. I even wrote some AutoIT to prompt for the disk, find it on insertion, and click through the confirmations during our deployment process.

 

Edit: in fact, in exchange for a Southampton postcard, I'll send you the source.

[keithu]

I'm using the free (older) version of this ENGL Zwlancfg™, but it seems to have disappeared from the website. PM me if you want a copy.

[jjohnsoncantell]

Thanks for the swift replies everyone.

 

dwhyte85: I have tried your answer as this seems the most simple to do and its just as i'd hoped to find such a setup. However the problem i have come up against is that it doesnt give you wpa2 options nor does it allow you to input the passkey. Have i missed something? or is this by design?

 

powdarrmonkey: I would use this but this is for after i have iamged them during which it autojoins to the domain to save time. Thanks though.

 

keithu: Can this be done after the imaging?

 

Thanks again guys

 

James

[keithu]

keithu: Can this be done after the imaging?

 

Yes, it's just a command line utility you can run at any time. You can either specify the wpa key etc as parameters or export/import a working config as an xml file.

[Arthur]

Until our school gets a managed wireless solution, I've been using 'WZC Auto Provision' from Aruba Networks. It works really well and supports everything from WEP to WPA2.

 

Examples

WifiCfg_XP.exe -add /SSID:EduGeek /Authentication:Open /Encryption:WEP /NetworkKey:12345678901234567890123456 /KeyIndex:1 /KeyProvidedAutomatically:FALSE

 

WifiCfg_XP.exe -add /SSID:EduGeek /Authentication:WPA /Encryption:TKIP /KeyProvidedAutomatically:TRUE /IEEE8021xEnabled:TRUE /EAPType:PEAP /InnerAuthentication:MSCHAPv2 /EnableFastReconnect:TRUE

[Arthur]

I'm using the free (older) version of this Zwlancfg, but it seems to have disappeared from the website. PM me if you want a copy.

Zwlancfg looks quite good actually. Thanks to Google I found a copy here, although I'm not sure if it's the last freeware version.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Arthur

[jjohnsoncantell]

Thanks thats just what i wanted Arthur and it works perfectly, thanks ever so much, and thank you all for answering my question so quickly!

 

James

[Arthur]

Would it be worth updating the EduGeek Wiki with details on Aruba's WiFiCfg or Zwlancfg, since the current method seems overly complicated?

[tomscaper]

Until our school gets a managed wireless solution, I've been using 'WZC Auto Provision' from Aruba Networks. It works really well and supports everything from WEP to WPA2.

 

Examples

WifiCfg_XP.exe -add /SSID:EduGeek /Authentication:Open /Encryption:WEP /NetworkKey:12345678901234567890123456 /KeyIndex:1 /KeyProvidedAutomatically:FALSE

 

WifiCfg_XP.exe -add /SSID:EduGeek /Authentication:WPA /Encryption:TKIP /KeyProvidedAutomatically:TRUE /IEEE8021xEnabled:TRUE /EAPType:PEAP /InnerAuthentication:MSCHAPv2 /EnableFastReconnect:TRUE

 

Do you happen to know how to add a ssid when the network key has a - sign in it.

[Modey]

Until our school gets a managed wireless solution, I've been using 'WZC Auto Provision' from Aruba Networks. It works really well and supports everything from WEP to WPA2.

 

Examples

WifiCfg_XP.exe -add /SSID:EduGeek /Authentication:Open /Encryption:WEP /NetworkKey:12345678901234567890123456 /KeyIndex:1 /KeyProvidedAutomatically:FALSE

 

WifiCfg_XP.exe -add /SSID:EduGeek /Authentication:WPA /Encryption:TKIP /KeyProvidedAutomatically:TRUE /IEEE8021xEnabled:TRUE /EAPType:PEAP /InnerAuthentication:MSCHAPv2 /EnableFastReconnect:TRUE

 

I just had a play around with this the other day and it's been very useful indeed. We had some laptops (eee PC's) that we wanted to use on our domain, but the wireless cards wouldn't pre-authenticate before logon.

 

However, if you use the wificfg utility in conjunction with local group policy (using the machine logon script to run the util), the laptops now pre-auth with the wireless!

[PiqueABoo]

Do you happen to know how to add a ssid when the network key has a - sign in it

 

Might not help, but see if the attached version works (in a limited test). That is the current Dec 2008 version, that I modified so it would work when there's a space character in the key. It's also a good idea to put quotes around the command line option like this: "/NetworkKey:Top Secret"

 

[if it does work now, please let me/us know]

WifiCfg_XP.7z

[phillipmillward]

Hi Guys,

 

I have got the autoit script working that sets the wifi settings.

 

I have put it in as a startup script using a gpo, is there anyway either using the gpo itself or by amending the script so that it only runs once then doesnt run again after the settings have been applied?

 

Thanks Guys

 

Phil

[mhussain]

Hey People i dont know how to or where to apply this code please can i have some information of where i need to add this code. i know am i bit stupid but please can some on help me!! :D

[Ladewig]

Unfortunately that Google search doesn't seem to find it anymore.

[Arthur]

I noticed that too, but luckily I managed to grab a copy.

 

You can download it from here, although I'm not sure if I got all the files.

[Nick_Parker]

I'm busy fiddling with the Aruba WiFiCfg_XP tool, very nifty, adds the network etc, but for some reason it enables the "Connect even if this network is not broadcasting" option.

Would this create problems if I have 5 or 6 WAPs installed?

I.E. Will it pick up when there is an active one around?

[Arthur]

I haven't had any problems so far with WiFiCfg. It seems a bit easier to use compared to zwlancfg.

 

One minor thing I did notice was that if you are setting up multiple wireless networks using WiFiCfg on a laptop, the networks get added in reverse chronological order i.e. the network you setup last, is first in the list of wireless networks. I'm not sure if this matters much, but I think Windows does try connecting to them in order.

[pablobhz]

Hey guys.

1st of all, thanks for this post. It really fixed my problem.

I've tried a VBS before this, but it didn't worked.

 

Now i'm here to ask help about a detail.

I do work in a place , where we have multiple wireless networks.

I've made a .bat file that adds all of 'em. But...windows keep switching between the networks.

 

Is there a way to set the "preferred network". Like...i'm on the 4th floor, i want it to stay connected to the 4th floor. I can make a simple C++ program(or BASIC programming) just to make this choice, this is no problem for me.

 

Thanks in advance, and i'm really anxious for a reply

 

Pablo.

[Cowardlyduck]

I think you can specify the order of preferred networks under, Network Connections>Advanced>Advanced Settings>Connections:

 

I think this should allow you to specify a different network SSID to connect to first.

 

let me know if it works.

[pablobhz]

Yeah i can.

I know about this option.

 

I just wanted to make everything automatic.

Look my situation: Someone knocks on the IT room (normally a student) asking to setup wireless config for him, so he can join the wireless network in the building (i do work in a college).

 

As there's one network in each floor, we setup a network as example and it always works.

We were tryng to create a manner that students would have all wireless networks configured.

 

With WiFiCfg_XP we made it.

But...wireless networks, keeps switching.

I was doing some test in the IT room where we have an AP...everytime it switched to a different connection, no matter if the signal was too good or too bad. Got my point ?

 

Thats my problem, i would like it to keep connected to the highest signal network

 

Any hints ?

Thanks

 

Pablo.

[eean]

Ok. Your problem is that you are using different SSIDs (i.e the network name that appears). When you set up a network with several SSIDs Windows will always try to connect to the one with highest priority, even if it's signal strength is weakest. Only when the highest priority network is completely out of range will Windows attempt to connect to the next one down.

 

Solution 1.

Put signs in each room telling students which network they should connect to. They manually select that network (Not a good solution!).

 

Solution 2

Make the SSID and password the same for all access points. Windows will automatically connect to the access point with highest signal strength. You will now only need to set up one network.

 

In addition, you should try to put the access points on different channels so they don't interfere - use channels 1, 6 and 11 - but try not to put two 1s or two 6s or two 11s within range of each other.

 

Solution 3

Buy a managed wireless network – e.g. Ruckus, Aruba. You will have just one SSID and an access point controller will take care of all the channels and decide the best access point for clients to connect to. (e.g. The one with the strongest signal isn't always the best if has lots of users). These have the added advantage that they can sort out authentication for you – so, for example, users could authenticate using their active directory username and password or provide guest access. Managed solutions are very expensive though .

 

Solution 2 is the easiest to implement with no cost.

[Cowardlyduck]

Ah this makes sense now.

 

Very similar situation to me actually.

 

We have all our WAP's under the same SSID and still see this same problem. I think it's a problem with Windows (as in a bug), not anything to do with the WAP's or wireless setup on clients.

 

As far as I know you would need to use an app to manage your wireless networks on the client PC's in order to do this.

 

We cannot do this in our network because our boarding house students come in with their own laptops, which we cannot touch except for joining to the network.

 

Would be very interested to know if you find a resolution...

 

Cheers,

 

Blake

[eean]

TBH it would seem unlikely that it's a Windows bug - espcially in your environment where people are probably using different versions of windows, with different network cards (unless it's only affecting some users?). I've used the multi-ap one-ssid setup for years without any problems.

Some network cards have problems - particularly if you log onto one AP then move. It will remain 'stuck' to a low signal AP, even when a stronger one is available. There is a setting that can sort that. Or, it could be a network card driver issue.

I'd be tempted to check the usual, if you haven't already: AP Firmware.

Alternatively, a crude way is to set which clients can connect to an AP using their MAC address. But you'd lose mobility as you'd have to know which clients should connect.