Auto switching network adaptor
Hi, My Laptop (Suse 10.1) has 2 NIC's, 1 ethernet and the other wireless. If I'm sat in the office I'll use eth0 (wired) with DHCP. But if I need to go down into the server room I use wireless via eth1. The wired and wireless networks are on the same VLAN but there isn't a transmitter I can use from the office so have to use 1 or the other. The problem I have is that the OS doesn't know to switch, both get an IP address but won't switch the routing from eth0 to eth1 (or vice versa). So I have to manually shut down the adaptor I'm not using and restart the other which is a little annoying as my fellow co-workers using the same laptops but with Windows don't have this problem as it knows to use what ever network is available? I also use it at home on wireless, it would be nice to be able to configure the machine so that I could use it at anywhere without having to constantly reconfigure the network settings. Is this possible under Linux? If so how? Regards Matthew
On Friday 22 September 2006 09:25, Matthew Stringer wrote:
I also use it at home on wireless, it would be nice to be able to configure the machine so that I could use it at anywhere without having to constantly reconfigure the network settings.
You should investigate the NetworkManager program, which is part of SuSE 10.1. Using YaST, configure networking to use "NetworkManager" rather than the "traditional method". Then, using the NetworkManager system tray program (found somewhere in the KDE menu), you can quickly switch between one and the other - and add several possible wireless networks to connect to, etc. I don't know if it will do this completely automatically, but it is at least a two-click operation to switch.
On Friday 22 September 2006 10:25, Matthew Stringer wrote:
The problem I have is that the OS doesn't know to switch, both get an IP address but won't switch the routing from eth0 to eth1 (or vice versa). So I have to manually shut down the adaptor I'm not using and restart the other which is a little annoying as my fellow co-workers using the same laptops but with Windows don't have this problem as it knows to use what ever network is available?
In theory you can take down one or the other adapter via: ifdown-dhcp eth0 for example. If eth1 is still up, it should take over as the default route. i think that would do the trick. When you want eth0 back up: ifup-dhcp eth0 In theory. -- ----- stephan@s11n.net http://s11n.net "...pleasure is a grace and is not obedient to the commands of the will." -- Alan W. Watts
On Friday 22 September 2006 00:25, Matthew Stringer wrote:
The problem I have is that the OS doesn't know to switch, both get an IP address but won't switch the routing from eth0 to eth1 (or vice versa). So I have to manually shut down the adaptor I'm not using and restart the other which is a little annoying as my fellow co-workers using the same laptops but with Windows don't have this problem as it knows to use what ever network is available?
Can't you just use the switch on the side of the laptop to turn ON the wireless when you want it? In the USA all laptops with embedded wireless nics have to have a switch so they can be turned off on airplanes. Lots of people don't know what its for, but its always there. In my configuration, when I turn that on, the hotplug stuff jumps up and starts the wireless, and it used dhcp, and dhcp resets the default routes. I think you need a line in your /etc/syconfig/network/dhcp file that says DHCLIENT_SET_DEFAULT_ROUTE="yes" (Don't recall if yast makes that entry or not). -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
John Andersen wrote:
Can't you just use the switch on the side of the laptop to turn ON the wireless when you want it?
In the USA all laptops with embedded wireless nics have to have a switch so they can be turned off on airplanes. Lots of people don't know what its for, but its always there.
Are you absolutely sure? There no such switch on my IBM Thinkpad R51e. /Per Jessen, Zürich
Per Jessen wrote:
John Andersen wrote:
Can't you just use the switch on the side of the laptop to turn ON the wireless when you want it?
In the USA all laptops with embedded wireless nics have to have a switch so they can be turned off on airplanes. Lots of people don't know what its for, but its always there.
Are you absolutely sure? There no such switch on my IBM Thinkpad R51e.
/Per Jessen, Zürich I don't think that the IBM Thinkpads ever have either, don't know what Lenovo is doing with them now. My Thinkpad does not have one, but Dell and Gateway models do.
- James W
On Saturday 23 September 2006 07:04, James Wright wrote:
Per Jessen wrote:
John Andersen wrote:
Can't you just use the switch on the side of the laptop to turn ON the wireless when you want it?
In the USA all laptops with embedded wireless nics have to have a switch so they can be turned off on airplanes. Lots of people don't know what its for, but its always there.
Are you absolutely sure? There no such switch on my IBM Thinkpad R51e.
/Per Jessen, Zürich
I don't think that the IBM Thinkpads ever have either, don't know what Lenovo is doing with them now. My Thinkpad does not have one,
If purchased it for the USA market I guarantee it has one. Try Fn F5. -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
On 23 September 2006 21:12, John Andersen wrote:
Try Fn F5.
I have a Lenovo ThinkPad z60m and that combination turns on/off the bluetooth device. I also have a switch that turns on/off both bluetooth and the network device. Regards Lívio
John Andersen wrote:
On Saturday 23 September 2006 07:04, James Wright wrote:
Per Jessen wrote:
John Andersen wrote:
Can't you just use the switch on the side of the laptop to turn ON the wireless when you want it?
In the USA all laptops with embedded wireless nics have to have a switch so they can be turned off on airplanes. Lots of people don't know what its for, but its always there.
Are you absolutely sure? There no such switch on my IBM Thinkpad R51e.
/Per Jessen, Zürich
I don't think that the IBM Thinkpads ever have either, don't know what Lenovo is doing with them now. My Thinkpad does not have one,
If purchased it for the USA market I guarantee it has one. Try Fn F5.
If it is an FAA requirement that the wireless NIC can be turned off in a laptop, I think all laptops will have such a switch, regardless of which market they are being sold to. After all, American airlines (UA) fly domestic connections in e.g. Germany. I think it's also likely that planes would be equipped with RF detectors for the 2.4GHz specturm, as it is otherwise impossible to tell if the laptop wireless NIC is on or not. Maybe they do have such detectors, I don't know. I've been away from the airlines business for a few years. /Per Jessen, Zürich
Per Jessen wrote:
John Andersen wrote:
Can't you just use the switch on the side of the laptop to turn ON the wireless when you want it?
In the USA all laptops with embedded wireless nics have to have a switch so they can be turned off on airplanes. Lots of people don't know what its for, but its always there.
Are you absolutely sure? There no such switch on my IBM Thinkpad R51e.
Nor on my ThinkPad R31
On Saturday 23 September 2006 02:23, Per Jessen wrote:
John Andersen wrote:
Can't you just use the switch on the side of the laptop to turn ON the wireless when you want it?
In the USA all laptops with embedded wireless nics have to have a switch so they can be turned off on airplanes. Lots of people don't know what its for, but its always there.
Are you absolutely sure? There no such switch on my IBM Thinkpad R51e.
/Per Jessen, Zürich
You either have a switch, or a keyboard capbility (probably Fn F5) to turn off the radio. Otherwise it would be illegal to power the notebook on while in flight (at least on any US airline). Like I say, its surprising how many users don't know what that is for or that they are obligated to turn the radio off when the stewardess says you may not use any equipment that sends or receives a signal. -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
John Andersen wrote:
You either have a switch, or a keyboard capbility (probably Fn F5) to turn off the radio. Otherwise it would be illegal to power the notebook on while in flight (at least on any US airline).
Like I say, its surprising how many users don't know what that is for or that they are obligated to turn the radio off when the stewardess says you may not use any equipment that sends or receives a signal.
I can find no such switch or Fn function that does that. I can however disable it via software.
John Andersen wrote:
You either have a switch, or a keyboard capbility (probably Fn F5) to turn off the radio. Otherwise it would be illegal to power the notebook on while in flight (at least on any US airline).
Like I say, its surprising how many users don't know what that is for or that they are obligated to turn the radio off when the stewardess says you may not use any equipment that sends or receives a signal.
I can find no such switch or Fn function that does that. I can however disable it via software. Forgot to mention. I've got an IBM ThinkPad R31.
On Saturday 23 September 2006 13:47, James Knott wrote:
John Andersen wrote:
You either have a switch, or a keyboard capbility (probably Fn F5) to turn off the radio. Otherwise it would be illegal to power the notebook on while in flight (at least on any US airline).
Like I say, its surprising how many users don't know what that is for or that they are obligated to turn the radio off when the stewardess says you may not use any equipment that sends or receives a signal.
I can find no such switch or Fn function that does that. I can however disable it via software.
Forgot to mention. I've got an IBM ThinkPad R31.
It was specifically the R31 where IBM on line documentation mentioned Fn-F5 combo. Google will find it. It could be they were forced to add it in software or face being banned on airlines: From: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/c79plac41.pdf Q12:. Can the Fn+F5 key combination be used on all ThinkPad computers to enable or disable the wireless features? A:You can use that key combination to enable or disable the wireless features only if ThinkPad Hotkey Features Version 1.03.0391 or later is installed on your computer. If it is installed, the wireless icon is printed on the F5 key. -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
John Andersen wrote:
On Saturday 23 September 2006 13:47, James Knott wrote:
Forgot to mention. I've got an IBM ThinkPad R31.
It was specifically the R31 where IBM on line documentation mentioned Fn-F5 combo. Google will find it.
It could be they were forced to add it in software or face being banned on airlines: From: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/c79plac41.pdf
Q12:. Can the Fn+F5 key combination be used on all ThinkPad computers to enable or disable the wireless features?
A:You can use that key combination to enable or disable the wireless features only if ThinkPad Hotkey Features Version 1.03.0391 or later is installed on your computer. If it is installed, the wireless icon is printed on the F5 key.
There's no icon on F5 and Fn-F5 has no effect.
John Andersen wrote:
It could be they were forced to add it in software or face being banned on airlines: From: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/c79plac41.pdf
Q12:. Can the Fn+F5 key combination be used on all ThinkPad computers to enable or disable the wireless features?
A:You can use that key combination to enable or disable the wireless features only if ThinkPad Hotkey Features Version 1.03.0391 or later is installed on your computer. If it is installed, the wireless icon is printed on the F5 key.
I have what could be a wireless icon on my F5 key, so presumably I've also got that software installed, but the Fn+F5 still doesn't do anything. This is a brandnew laptop, purchased only 2 months ago. I have to say I find it difficult to believe that laptops sold in Europe would be in direct violation of strict FAA requirements. Perhaps some from smaller manufacturers, but surely not my new IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad ? /Per Jessen, Zürich
Per Jessen wrote:
John Andersen wrote:
It could be they were forced to add it in software or face being banned on airlines: From: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/c79plac41.pdf
Q12:. Can the Fn+F5 key combination be used on all ThinkPad computers to enable or disable the wireless features?
A:You can use that key combination to enable or disable the wireless features only if ThinkPad Hotkey Features Version 1.03.0391 or later is installed on your computer. If it is installed, the wireless icon is printed on the F5 key.
I have what could be a wireless icon on my F5 key, so presumably I've also got that software installed, but the Fn+F5 still doesn't do anything. This is a brandnew laptop, purchased only 2 months ago.
As far as I can tell, this IBM redbook: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg247045.pdf says that Fn+F5 has to be specifically enabled using the IBM ThinkVantage stuff. So perhaps it is an FAA requirement that laptops have such a switch, but it doesn't have to do anything? /Per Jessen, Zürich
On Sunday 24 September 2006 04:58, Per Jessen wrote:
As far as I can tell, this IBM redbook:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg247045.pdf
says that Fn+F5 has to be specifically enabled using the IBM ThinkVantage stuff. So perhaps it is an FAA requirement that laptops have such a switch, but it doesn't have to do anything?
More likely the ThinkVantage stuff is an after the fact fix to cover the fact that the physical switch was left out of the design, and IBM just assumed everyone would run windows. When you run Linux, chances are the laptop becomes non-compliant. Since Lenovo now sells machines with linux, perhaps they will provide such capability. -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
John Andersen wrote:
On Sunday 24 September 2006 04:58, Per Jessen wrote:
As far as I can tell, this IBM redbook:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg247045.pdf
says that Fn+F5 has to be specifically enabled using the IBM ThinkVantage stuff. So perhaps it is an FAA requirement that laptops have such a switch, but it doesn't have to do anything?
More likely the ThinkVantage stuff is an after the fact fix to cover the fact that the physical switch was left out of the design, and IBM just assumed everyone would run windows.
I still doubt this wireless-off switch is an actual FAA requirement, I have to say - do you have a reference to it? Is it brandnew? My laptop is.
When you run Linux, chances are the laptop becomes non-compliant.
I don't really mind - I'll just tell the airlines-hostess that I've switched it off - she can even watch me press the buttons. Several times if need be. /Per Jessen, Zürich
Per Jessen wrote:
I don't really mind - I'll just tell the airlines-hostess that I've switched it off - she can even watch me press the buttons. Several times if need be.
And then she'll bring some food over, so you can warm it with the microwaves from your computer. ;-
On Sunday 24 September 2006 12:00, Per Jessen wrote:
I still doubt this wireless-off switch is an actual FAA requirement, I have to say - do you have a reference to it? Is it brandnew? My laptop is.
The requirement is that you may not operate anything that sends or receives a radio signal, and the requirement is also an EU requirement, and its part of German Law. So that would leave YOU with the requirement to make sure the wifi is off, or just not use the device.
When you run Linux, chances are the laptop becomes non-compliant.
I don't really mind - I'll just tell the airlines-hostess that I've switched it off - she can even watch me press the buttons. Several times if need be.
These things are getting cheap: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/104-7025863-4148724?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=wireless+detector&Go.x=11&Go.y=14&Go=Go There seems to be a race these days between those who want to add wifi/cell service on planes and those who want to ban it totally. It will only take one incident to get computers banned entirely in this day and age... Found this on the web: --- The MLS (Microwave Landing System) is 5.0 to 5.25GHz. TDWR (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar) is 5.6 to 5.65GHz. Only the major airports have them. In the US, the 802.11a operating frequencies are: 5.15 to 5.35GHz and 5.725 to 5.825GHz. It's the European region 802.11a clients that worry the FAA. They overlap the MLS and TDWR system: Europe: 19ch 5.15 to 5.35GHz and 5.47 to 5.725GHz Japan: 4ch 5.15 to 5.25GHz China : 5ch 5.725 to 5.85GHz US: 12ch 5.15 to 5.35GHz and 5.725 to 5.825GHz. --- However, to the best of my knowledge there has never been any documented case where either a cell phone or a wifi transmitter has ever interfered with any flight system. There are a lot of anecdotal claims, but Boeing has attempted to detect any such problems and have never found any. (Including one incident where Boeing flew to Europe, purchased the alleged culprit laptop from its owner and flew it on the same plane on the same route and could never find a thing no matter how hard they tried. -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
I wonder if there is something new in the regulations concerning in-flight use of WiFi. My brand-new SonyEricsson P990 has a "Flight mode" which turns off the GSM, UMTS, Bluetooth and WiFi tranceivers, and disables the FM-radio just like its predescessors (P800, P900 etc), but (and this is a big "but") the WiFi can be enabled independently of the "Flight mode". This is not a bug, it is explicitly mentioned several times in the manual that this is the way it is supposed to work. Isn't some airlines experimenting with in-flight WiFi sercvices? -- !++ ! Lennart Börjeson ! Partner, Developer ! Cinnober Financial Technology AB ! Industrigatan 2A ! S-112 46 STOCKHOLM ! Sverige/Sweden/Schweden/Suède ! mailto:Lennart.Borjeson@cinnober.com ! phone:+46-8-50304717 ! gsm:+46-70-3394717 ! fax:+46-8-50304701 ! http://www.cinnober.com !--
On Sunday 24 September 2006 23:27, Lennart Börjeson wrote:
Isn't some airlines experimenting with in-flight WiFi sercvices?
Yes, Boeing wanted to make an inflight Internet service available. There is also a plan for an in-cabin cellular service via an on-board "cell tower". (Of course they want money for it....) History: The original push for cell phone restrictions was not from the FAA, but rather from the FCC and was requested by the cell carriers. The reason was ground cell tower systems were never designed for your phone to be able to light up 150 towers at the same time as it can from 30,000 feet. The system was designed for your phone to prefer its own cell company's towers, and only connect to other towers when it could find none of its own. Further it was expected that your phone would see at most 5 towers at a time. Systems weren't intended to have to negotiate call hand off among cell towers from 10 different companies over a two or three state area. (or maybe 3 countries in Europe). Further, phones in planes would be all talking on their highest power levels, and constantly searching for towers. This causes system thrashing of the provider infrastructure. (Whether this has changed since the arrival of GSM is unclear.) The "cell tower in a plane" idea causes the phones to drop back to their lowest power levels (reducing the chance for interference with cockpit systems), and the in-plane cell would relay through an antenna on the belly to special ground stations. Then 911 happened, and it seems unlikely that anyone will soon want to provide a communication method to the bad guys, especially the bad guys who want to send a signal from their seat to their suitcase in the cargo bay, or their home to ... well you get the picture. So I'm not expecting this to happen any time soon... -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
John Andersen wrote:
Then 911 happened, and it seems unlikely that anyone will soon want to provide a communication method to the bad guys, especially the bad guys who want to send a signal from their seat to their suitcase in the cargo bay, or their home to ... well you get the picture.
It's interesting that you mention 9/11. More than one person has wondered how United 93 passengers managed to get off several clear cell calls out... However, I know the first widely publicized test of the cell tower in a plane was done in 2004, but I don't know if any airline has really implemented it commercially. I don't know if it's for the reason you specify, or that they haven't come up with a way to force the passengers using it to pay gobs of money. I imagine a much simpler timer would be easier and more reliable for a checked cargo explosive.
On Monday 25 September 2006 06:53, suse@rio.vg wrote:
It's interesting that you mention 9/11. More than one person has wondered how United 93 passengers managed to get off several clear cell calls out...
Its not hard. I've done it seripticiously(sp?) myself. -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
Lennart Börjeson wrote:
I wonder if there is something new in the regulations concerning in-flight use of WiFi. My brand-new SonyEricsson P990 has a "Flight mode" which turns off the GSM, UMTS, Bluetooth and WiFi tranceivers, and disables the FM-radio just like its predescessors (P800, P900 etc), but (and this is a big "but") the WiFi can be enabled independently of the "Flight mode". This is not a bug, it is explicitly mentioned several times in the manual that this is the way it is supposed to work. Isn't some airlines experimenting with in-flight WiFi sercvices?
United Airlines got FAA approval for providing on-board wirelewss services in mid-2005. /Per Jessen, Zürich
At 09:11 PM 9/25/2006 +0200, Per Jessen wrote:
Lennart Börjeson wrote:
I wonder if there is something new in the regulations concerning in-flight use of WiFi. My brand-new SonyEricsson P990 has a "Flight mode" which turns off the GSM, UMTS, Bluetooth and WiFi tranceivers, and disables the FM-radio just like its predescessors (P800, P900 etc), but (and this is a big "but") the WiFi can be enabled independently of the "Flight mode". This is not a bug, it is explicitly mentioned several times in the manual that this is the way it is supposed to work. Isn't some airlines experimenting with in-flight WiFi sercvices?
United Airlines got FAA approval for providing on-board wirelewss services in mid-2005.
/Per Jessen, Zürich
--
It should be pointed out that WiFi uses much lower power levels than cellular phones are capable of, and that the frequencies used in either case, are not used for aircraft navigation or communication. Aircraft communication is in the 100 to 130 MHz range, except over the ocean, when it is in the HF range. Navigation is in the 900 to 1300 MHz range, and so is the transponder, which identifies the airplane to ground controllers. Certainly, a high power transmitter could be a problem with aircraft control circuits, but even a cellular phone only puts out about 2.5 watts, tops. A previous correspandent has pointed out that FCC, not FAA, precluded use of cellular equipment on aircraft, and did not (AFAIK) preclude WiFi on the plane. --doug
On Monday 25 September 2006 15:59, Doug McGarrett wrote:
It should be pointed out that WiFi uses much lower power levels than cellular phones are capable of, and that the frequencies used in either case, are not used for aircraft navigation or communication.
Not entirely true: The MLS (Microwave Landing System) is 5.0 to 5.25GHz. TDWR (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar) is 5.6 to 5.65GHz. Only the major airports have them. In the US, the 802.11a operating frequencies are: 5.15 to 5.35GHz and 5.725 to 5.825GHz. (no conflict) It's the European region 802.11a clients that worry the FAA. They overlap the MLS and TDWR system: Europe: 19ch 5.15 to 5.35GHz and 5.47 to 5.725GHz (conflict BOTH) Japan: 4ch 5.15 to 5.25GHz (conflict MLS) China : 5ch 5.725 to 5.85GHz (no conflict) US: 12ch 5.15 to 5.35GHz and 5.725 to 5.825GHz. (conflict mls) -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
John Andersen wrote:
On Sunday 24 September 2006 12:00, Per Jessen wrote:
I still doubt this wireless-off switch is an actual FAA requirement, I have to say - do you have a reference to it? Is it brandnew? My laptop is.
The requirement is that you may not operate anything that sends or receives a radio signal, and the requirement is also an EU requirement, and its part of German Law. So that would leave YOU with the requirement to make sure the wifi is off, or just not use the device.
John, you've now gone from saying it's only for American airlines, to it being an EU requirement as well a German law. Of course, I'm subject to neither provided I fly Swiss or Scandinavian, KLM or Air France :-) Still, it does not change the fact that my laptop does NOT have a switch or button that will turn off the wireless NIC, so this is simply NOT an FAA nor German or EU requirement.
However, to the best of my knowledge there has never been any documented case where either a cell phone or a wifi transmitter has ever interfered with any flight system.
Yeah - in the UK, they used to think that mobiles could create sparks, and petrol-station proprietors and staff took it upon themselves to ban the use of such on their premises - completely unwarranted. /Per Jessen, Zürich
On Monday 25 September 2006 11:10, Per Jessen wrote:
Still, it does not change the fact that my laptop does NOT have a switch or button that will turn off the wireless NIC, so this is simply NOT an FAA nor German or EU requirement.
The requirement is that you may not operate any equipment that "sends or receives a signal". How you do that without a switch is your problem. You have to turn off the raido, even if that means turning off the entire computer. Can you get away with non-compliance? Probably. IBM provided a software solution which won't work under Linux (apparently). That leave you with one other switch that will.... There's a reason every other manufacturer provides a switch. -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
John Andersen wrote:
On Monday 25 September 2006 11:10, Per Jessen wrote:
Still, it does not change the fact that my laptop does NOT have a switch or button that will turn off the wireless NIC, so this is simply NOT an FAA nor German or EU requirement.
The requirement is that you may not operate any equipment that "sends or receives a signal". How you do that without a switch is your problem.
Well, that's somewhat different to what you started out saying ("that all laptops must have a switch that'll turn the wireless NIC on and off"). That's all I wanted to point out. /Per Jessen, Zürich
For what it's worth...I have an older Thinkpad (type 2683) on SuSE9.3. My internal 802.11 wireless lan shows up as an interface (along with the modem) in Kinternet. If I 'hang up' the wlan0, I loose the wireless indicator lamp, and can no longer detect any RF with my Anritsu spectrum analyser. My FN-F5 has no effect. Tom
On Sunday 24 September 2006 15:40, Tom Patton wrote:
If I 'hang up' the wlan0, I loose the wireless indicator lamp, and can no longer detect any RF with my Anritsu spectrum analyser.
Right. I use Kinternet too on some laptops. On my main one tho, its easier to just yank the PCMCIA card out of the slot. ;-) (Its an older laptop, but I try not to buy embedded wireless anyway if given a choice. The stuff is evolving so fast its obsolete before your machine is delivered. I use a cheap Mobil Edge pocket wifi detector on a plane once to see how many laptops had their wifi nic running, more out of curiosity than anything else. There was at least one that had it on somewhere behind me. The Stew saw me and asked about it, and then borrowed it and went back and had them turn off the wifi. A very tech savy stew. Course I stopped doing that, because it occurs to me I'd likely arouse a lot suspicion with that. Last thing I want to see is F16s out my window. -- _____________________________________ John Andersen
John Andersen wrote:
You either have a switch, or a keyboard capbility (probably Fn F5) to turn off the radio. Otherwise it would be illegal to power the notebook on while in flight (at least on any US airline).
It looks Fn+F5 might be it - nope, doesn't do anything. (laptop is running SUSE Linux 10.1).
Like I say, its surprising how many users don't know what that is for or that they are obligated to turn the radio off when the stewardess says you may not use any equipment that sends or receives a signal.
To be honest, it's not really *that* surprising - most laptop users know very little about the laptop outside their main needs. My wife uses a laptop every day for work, but she rarely if ever uses the Wifi. I'll ask if 1) she knows she supposed to turn it off on planes and 2) she knows how it's done. (she's been in IT for 20 years). /Per Jessen, Zürich
Per Jessen wrote:
To be honest, it's not really *that* surprising - most laptop users know very little about the laptop outside their main needs. My wife uses a laptop every day for work, but she rarely if ever uses the Wifi. I'll ask if 1) she knows she supposed to turn it off on planes and 2) she knows how it's done. (she's been in IT for 20 years).
Answers: 1) no, she doesn't know and has never been asked. She travels to the US no more than 3-4 times a year. 2) no, she doesn't how to do it. /Per Jessen, Zürich
participants (13)
-
Doug McGarrett -
James Knott -
James Wright -
John Andersen -
Lennart Börjeson -
Lívio Cipriano -
Matthew Stringer -
Per Jessen -
stephan beal -
suse＠rio.vg -
Tom Patton -
William Gallafent -
Xiaofeng Zhao