Suggestion: "Static" WPA Networks

["Zach Tibbitts" <zach collegegeek org>]

It seems that some users on the mailing list along with myself are having a similar problem:
that is we need to connect to a particular WPA network that wpa_supplicant supports but 
network-manager does not.

so, what if you could create some sort of /etc/nm-
wpa.conf file that read like a wpa_supplicant
configuration file, and network manager would add a menu option in the popup menu to connect
to any networks you have explicitly defined in that file.  This would make a nice temporary solution
until the GUI configuration adds support for those protocols.

As it is now, I have to disable NM, then pop open two command lines, one for wpa_supplicant,
and another to run dhclient once wpa displays "Authenticated"  The connection drops fairly
frequently as well, with no indication except that my network apps stop working, then i have
to go back to my two terminals and do the same process over again, complete with retyping
my password for sudo. The entire process is a bit of a pain.  If network-manager could handle
networks that I manually define and configure, and reconnect automatically when they drop,
it would make my life much easier.

This would also make any improvements to wpa_supplicant effectively included and supported
by NetworkManager instantly, even if it takes a while to update the interface.

Thanks for making a great product,

Zach Tibbitts - zach collegegeek org
http://collegegeek.org