Perform the following initial steps.
- disconnect power from rpi
- plug in belkin n 300 usb wifi adapter
- power up rpi
Now check if the module is loaded with lsmod. This should show a 8192cu listing. With the latest raspbian image this driver is included. If not get the latest image or check where you can find a driver to compile yourself.
lsmod
Scan for available networks using iwlist. Write down the essid of the network you want to connect to.
iwlist scan
If using WPA encryption you’ll have to generate the passphrase here with the following command. Replace the ESSID and the PASSWORD parameters. This will generate a hash that you’ll need in the next step.
wpa-passphrase [ESSID] [PASSWORD]
Edit the /etc/network/interfaces file for your network.
sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces
And add the following content for a wpa protected network with dhcp:
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-ssid [ESSID]
wpa-psk [PASSPHRASE]
Now you can restart your network interfaces with the following command.
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
Now check if your network is live. Don’t forget to unplug the cable if you configured all this over a wired connection :p.
All of this was tested with the latest raspbian image from http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads and a brand new belkin N 300 wireless adapter. You can get a smaller belkin N 150 wireless adapter for the same price with only downside that the max speed of that smaller one is limited. However with 150Mbps it’s still well over the 100Mbps your raspberry pi can handle anyway. The Belkin N 300 wireless adapter has a theoretical max speed of 300 Mbps.
More information about wifi configuration on debian is available at http://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse .