[plug] wireless networking

[Craig Dyke]

Here's a newbie question about wireless networking ...

How do go about getting my wireless card (on my laptop [integrated]) 
associated with ieee80211?

I seem to be able to get almost every flippin setting attached to the 
card but as it is not associated
with anything I can't use those protocols.
Am I on the right track here?

I ask as when I do:   iwlist eth2 scan

I bring up the details of both my own network and that of my neighbour.
I thought this might have meant the association thing is not required as 
I can see the router?

When I look on the web I see others showing the following:

eth1      IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"Whatever"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 00:11:95:18:18:30
          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:DEAD-BEEF-00   Security mode:open
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=98/100  Signal level=-53 dBm  Noise level=-81 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0

But I always get:

eth2      _unassociated_  ESSID:"Whatever"
          Mode:Managed  Channel=0  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
          Bit Rate=0 kb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:DEAD-BEEF-0 Security Mode:restricted
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0


Suggestions appreciated??

Craig