Wireless card general config

I have a dlink dwl 650+ wireless card.

Suse 9.3 almost recognises it, I have only to especify the firmware files
[1]. After this I suppose I have to do

iwlist wlan0 scan

to scan the wireless access points and when I see a good one, with a strong
signal, I have to tell the card to connect with this one, but how ? With
ifconfig or iwconfig ?

Other question is that I use auditor security cd, but I am not sure if the
system recognises the card or how the configures it. So, in a general way:

- How can I know if linux recognises certain hardware ? In this case is a
wireless card.
- How can I know if linux loads the appropiate things (modules or firmware)
to make it work properly ?
- How can I know if I have to configure it manually or not ?
- What boot files have I to see to be sure the system does right the
recognition and configuration of my wireless card ?

Thanks.


[1]
http://groups.google.com/group/comp....8399e426522850