While using 9.10 Karmic, i learn of this excelent application that makes conecting to wireless lan a breeze (and my life less complicated!)
Wicd is an open source wired and wireless network manager for Linux which provides a simple but effective interface to connect to networks with a wide variety of settings and features starting with no Gnome dependencies (but note that it does require GTK), so it is easy to use and install in XFCE, Fluxbox, Openbox, Enlightenment, etc.
Need more?
-It has the ability to connect to wired (Ethernet only, no PPPoE/DSL support yet) and wireless networks.
-Individual profiles for each wireless network and wired network.
-Remains compatible with wireless-tools
-Tray icon showing network activity and signal strength
-A full-featured console interface
If you are using Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty), Wicd 1.5.9 is in the universe repository, so a simple
sudo apt-get install wicd
will do it. If you want the latest version of Wicd when it comes out, though, you'll need to add the Wicd repository. Jaunty users who need to download the Wicd deb package can grab it from Ubuntu's Universe repository. Non-Jaunty versions of Ubuntu (Intrepid, Hardy, etc) or Jaunty users who want the latest updates will have to add the Wicd repository to the Ubuntu package manager. To open the package manager in Gnome, go to Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. When it appears, go to Settings > Repositories > Third Party Software > Add..., and enter the following line:
deb http://apt.wicd.net jaunty extras
where "jaunty" is your version of Ubuntu in lowercase (dapper, edgy, feisty, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, jaunty). You'll also need to add the key used for signing Wicd by running the following command in a terminal: wget -q http://apt.wicd.net/wicd.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
Now, click Reload, and wait while the package lists are downloaded. Now, search for "Wicd", and right click on it. Select Install, then press Apply, and Wicd will automatically be downloaded and installed for you. This will also keep you automatically up to date with the latest and greatest version of Wicd. Please note that this will remove network-manager, which is the default GNOME network manager and may cause loss of network connection temporarily.