Here are the steps it took to get my Edimax EW-7811Un wireless usb adapter up and running:
goto: sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces and update with:
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
auto eth0
allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet manual
auto wlan0
allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet manual
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
auto wlan1
allow-hotplug wlan1
iface wlan1 inet static
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
address XXX.XXX.X.XX #your static IP assigned by router
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway XXX.XXX.X.XXX #your router
goto: sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf and update with
trl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
network={
ssid=”Wireless Name”
psk=”Wireless Password”
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA
pairwise=TKIP
auth_alg=OPEN
}
sudo route add default gw XXX.XXX.X.XX # router
sudo ifdown wlan1
sudo ifup wlan1