I set my SSID in /etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.opts, RH 8.0. I don't use iwconfig to bring my wlan up. I use ifup. When my pcmcia services come up it sets the default SSID. If you look in the file /var/lib/pcmcia/scheme When pcmcia starts it places the scheme file in /var/lib/pcmcia/scheme with the default SSID defined in it.