Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Another IT question, re: WiFi setup and WEP

I've been using my Linksys WUSB11 v2.6 w/ my older Netgear 814 for a while, no problems. My XP PC has been since updated w/ it's built in wireless utilities, so I can't seem to get the specific Linksys utilities running. I changed the WEP password on the AP (connected to the DSL modem). But now I can't access my DSL connection via the WUSB11. The connection is active, I can do a wired connection and my other wireless laptop (w/ WEP) is fine.

The problem is that there seems to be 2 places where to set the WEP. One is from the control panel, where there is a Wireless Settings icon. This seems to be a Windows XP thing. The other place is the properties window, as shown in the quick install guide from Linksys. I changed both places to have the same WEP password but now luck. W/ no WEP, it works fine.

Where do I set the password?

I HATE Windows so much now. My Mac Mini is so much easier.

I feel your pain cus my (former) windows laptop would NOT keep the WEP key and always ask for it. I would place it in my copy buffer and paste it all the time but for some reason it just wouldn't store the WEP key. Pissed me off so much that I just decided to install Linux on the laptop and everything has been running perfect! Amazing that Linux actually surpases windows for me in terms of ease of use.

Sorry for OT...anyways WinXp recommends if your card is supported to use the built in Wireless settings in leiu of bundled software. I'm not totally sure but you will have to use one or the other, not both. Also, try placing the WEP key in your copy buffer to avoid any typo's (since the 128-bit or higher wep keys are pretty long).

Hope it works out for ya...

If you go into properties for the WUSB nic you should find a checkbox to "allow Windows to control your wireless connection." Try checking it. If it is checked, uncheck it.
Try either way. Also, do you get a message in your systray about your connection ("Your wireless connection has limited or no connectivity" or something like that)? Click Start->Run and type CMD into the box and hit enter. At the command prompte, type "ipconfig" and see if your wireless adapter had an IP address. You DON'T want to see 0.0.0.0 or 169.x.x.x. SP2 can be a pain with it's wireless security functions. Another thing to try is go to Device Manager and right-click the wusb nic and select "Uninstall." Then unplug the usb nic, reboot, then plug it in and let Windows reinstall the driver.

Mark
Thanks for the input. I figured there'd be some admins here who'd know what I was trying to do...or "redo".

1) If you go into properties for the WUSB nic you should find a checkbox to "allow Windows to control your wireless connection." Try checking it. If it is checked, uncheck it.
Try either way.
OSB: I'll have to find this. The PC is at home and I don't recall this window.

2) "Your wireless connection has limited or no connectivity"
OSB: Yeah, that's exactly it. W/in XP, I tried to renew the address but it always fails. I haven't tried it from the DOS prompt yet.

3) Another thing to try is go to Device Manager and right-click the wusb nic and select "Uninstall." Then unplug the usb nic, reboot, then plug it in and let Windows reinstall the driver.
OSB: Yeah, if the other things above don't work, I'll start from scratch. I have to download the s/w and then put them on a USB stick so I can get them over to the PC.

Thanks again. I can't wait till the new Macs come out. My wife gets an educational discount and I have friends at Apple. I'm drop kicking it out of the house and going full Mac by the end of the next Mac Expo in Jan 06 for sure. My only remnant will be Virtual PC.

If you try the uninstall, don't worry about new SW at first. Uninstall from Device Manager doesn't delete the driver. What happens is when you reboot it in essence re-binds the driver to nic. Actually (Mac users won't believe this) the best way is to uninstall, reboot with the nic out, reboot again, then insert the nic. If that doesn't work, go into Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs and actually remove the WUSB software. Then reboot and install the software you download.
I know this is a pain. I administer 35 laptops and 5 AP's on top of the 60 desktops and 15 servers. SP2 for XP really caused a bunch of problems. My fellow SysAdmin and I both run Slackware Linux on our main systems here.

BTW we got one of the Mac-on-Intel developer kits here. WOW. Love that BSD command line. Never thought I could mount a Windows share on a Mac from a command line. And the Mac GUI is beautiful.

oh, gawd, he's been seduced by the dark side.

"Now you will understand the full power of the dark side."

Nah, I'm a geek. A computer is a computer. I could list pros and cons for any platform. Personally, I can't live without a Wintel machine at home because most of the games I like are DirectX gameas as opposed to OpenGL. On the other hand, I use Linux for most everything else, because of the DIY factor more than anything else. It's fun! People blah blah about stability and so on but really we have 99.9% uptime on all our servers, Windows and Linux. I personally never have problems with my Windows machine and I believe this is because as an experienced user I know how to stay out of trouble. That's the biggest difference. Linux makes it pretty hard for an inexperienced/average user to mess it up.
Mac's are pretty. HW and SW. But for the price, what do they do for me that another platform won't for a lot less?

VERY cool, hope you're not violating your NDA...

Apple is my customer and I get some vision into their product line. (But don't ask me, I like my job...) I've become a Mac returnee after 15 yrs of my Mac Plus. I've definitely been re-assimilated. I have a 17" powerbook on my desk at work and EVERYONE loves it. But unfortunately it's for demos, I have to use an IBM T40. Soon...

You mean we can't even ask you what you do for a living?

Nah, just saying I have one and like it isn't going to get me in trouble. I've been toying around the idea of picking up an iBook for a personal laptop. Maybe when the x86 switch happens. I've worked with Macs a bit but have never owned one. I helped a friend of mine build a recording studio and he uses a couple there on the digital side. It's pretty interesting. He has a Ghost board hooked up through some DAC/ADC's to a dual G5. But he also has an older board hooked up to a 2-inch 24 track. Plus a bunch of tube preamps, Echoplexes, that sort of thing. As well as the DSP gear and such. It's a great place to geek out. Anyway, I've become pretty accustomed to OSX working with him. I really do like it. Hard to stop double-clicking and right-clicking (he has a Logitech mouse). We are going to set up my M22ti's there some day to see how they work as ref monitors. He has some ancient Tannoys now.

My mac mini does duty as my kid's computer in the home theatre. Use it for Living Books CDs, my kid loves all the Little Critter ones. I also use it to edit my DV vids. iMovie, iPhoto, etc are very intuitive and easy to use. I can't say the same for Pinnacle Studio.

Latest incarnation

Peter, you can ask, but it doesn't mean I'd give an answer...

I'm a field apps engineer.

Yeah, my buddy the studio guy has a mini at home. Very cute. I'm thinking an iBook would be a great starter Mac since my desktop needs are well taken care of. I have a "server" I built that now has just over 1Tbyte of storage, a "beige box" Linux machine for most of my uses, an aluminum-cased, water-cooled, windowed, lighted Windows gaming machine I spent way too much time and money building, and enough parts and odds and ends to build probably 3 more machines. My wife has a machine I built with a very cool aluminum desktop case that fits perfectly on a shelf on her desk. Gigabit ethernet for wired connections, 802.11b/g for wireless, which includes a D-Link "media server" which streams content off of the server through my HT system. Criminy, I couldn't be more of a geek if I tried (he says as he unpacks his Motorola Razr which he begged his manager to approve, mostly because his friends already have them).

i hear ya, i'm a gadget freak too. My mini also serves as the iTunes server, since it's connected to the receiver via USB.

Razr is cool, I have a Treo 600 but I'm pining for the Razr Berry/Moto Q.

MOT Q

The thing is, I don't even like cell phones. I don't like phones in general. But if I have to have one it better have geeksappeal. I "trial-ed" the Treo 650 here for 2 weeks along with some managers to see if they would be useful. It was cool, but still a bit to large for my taste. Some of the managers and salespeople got the Treo though. I got the black Razr which looks cool next to the black iPod Nano. Nano...small...shiny...must...haaaaave!

Wow, this thread got hi-jacked pretty quick...

Back to the topic, why use WEP? I understand it encrypts your data using a set key, blah blah blah, but it also robs speed. Maybe you live in an area that has a lot of potential wi-fi "hackers" (you know, those people that have a laptop and just drive by to see where they can hop on someone's open internet link), but most of them look for the people with absolutely no protection at all to steal a link from. You can try limiting your access point to specific MAC (not Macintosh) address(es) for your wireless card(s) for yourself and anyone else using your link. The Access Point should ignor anyone else that is not in the MAC list.

Sure it isn't 100%, but neither is WEP. WEP is a LOT stronger, but again, do you REALLY need it. Just a thought, it is your setup. Do what you wish.

WPA is actually much more secure than WEP. MAC filtering is a good way to do it. War-drivers are a concern here in Portland, which is full to the brim with geeks. I don't know if OSB has these concerns. The overhead from using WEP or WPA isn't that much, maybe 1%. One concern is liability from an unauthorized user co-opting your connection for purposes such as spamming, file downloading, or child pornography. It's just better to have some security on. Now if you don't want to use encryption or MAC filtering, most AP's allow you to turn off their broadcast feature, which means the SID isn't broadcast. This makes it hard for a war-driver to connect since he needs the SID so he can associate to your AP. But he will likely know there is an AP nearby, and the proper tools can help him scavenge that SID.

From what I've heard it's pretty easy to sniff the MAC address and then spoof it. Me, I use WPA and MAC filtering at home. I run an open network (SSID Broadcase on, that is), though. Easier to troubleshoot, and SSID Broadcast disabled doesn't get you much security anyway.

It's true. If you can sniff the MAC, it's nothing to spoof one. As a matter of fact, many Windows drivers allow you to enter an alternate MAC address. If they don't, there's easy ways to do it. WPA for now is the way to go. MAC filtering is a good secondary. I don't broadcast, filter the MAC, and use WPA. WEP is almost too easy to break anymore. One word: NetStumbler.

OK, always listen to your own advice. I am a strong proponent of cut and paste, mostly because I'm too lazy to type. Plus, I don't want to risk typos. I always do this when retyping passwords.

I was setting up my WEP and copied my password onto paper. Being the genius that I am, I failed to notice that the number '8' looks too much like the capital letter 'B'.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, I'm done now. I almost chucked my desktop out the window yesterday too.

Oh lord...I'm dying! Make it stop!