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I just moved my Linux/Windows dual-booting laptop from a desk with an Ethernet jack to a desk that is within the WiFi range of our 2WIRE integrated modem/WiFi/ethernet router. I use GNOME with NetworkManager, and though NetworkManager reports that everything is fine with the connection, I am unable to access anything outside the local network, though I can access the modem/router and the other computers perfectly. However, when I either plug it into an Ethernet cable or boot into Windows, it works just fine.

ifconfig and iwconfig both report that the connection works, the router's firewall is set to allow all outbound traffic, and the laptop's firewall is also set to allow all inbound traffic.

How is this even possible, and more importantly, how could I get it fixed?

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askubuntu.com might be good place for this. (Assuming you are using Ubuntu) –  Olli Feb 14 '11 at 19:45
No, I'm using Arch Linux. –  Hedgetrimmer Feb 16 '11 at 21:43

1 Answer 1

It seems that the default gateway is not set. You could check it by typing

route -n

in a console when connected without cable. If you don't see a line starting with "" then you have no default gateway set. Check your configurations, but it should get set automagically when the WiFi connection starts, the WiFI router should pass the default gateway IP to your computer. If not some configuration is screwed.

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This is indeed the case. I have checked and regenerated my NetworkManager profile, and it still does not work. However, I have no idea how to actually fix it. –  Hedgetrimmer Feb 22 '11 at 23:25
Then either you have something misconfigured, or there is some error in Arch Linux. Have you been a good boy and have you applied all updates to Arch Linux? Try if adding the default gateway yourself solves the problem. First you will have to find out the IP address of your router, either check it on Windows, or see if it's in /etc/resolv.conf. What are the contents of your /etc/resolv.conf ? When you have the router's IP address type in a console as root: route add default gw your_router_ip_address and check if your internet connections works. Try ping . –  rems Feb 23 '11 at 11:10
I just recently had the opportunity to try it, but for some reason, it just started working normally (I bothered to check it one last time before I typed in the route command.). I don't know what did it, but I know it wasn't me, as I had moved the laptop over back to the ethernet-equipped desk. Thanks anyway! –  Hedgetrimmer Feb 25 '11 at 23:36

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