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Windows XP SP2 and WEP Encryption?
HumanCarbonUnit asks: "Here's a question for all of you XP SP2 users out there. When connecting to any WEP (64 or 128) encrypted wireless network the laptops connect but an IP address isn't given out and even with a static IP address, the internet is in-accessible. I have a Linksys WAP54G access point and an Airlink 101 Wireless router for connection and two laptops, a new Sony Vaio and an HP L2000 Special Edition. Both laptops are running Windows XP SP 2 fully updated including newest drivers. For a router, I have a Netgear FR114P that issues the IP addresses acts as gateway / DNS for the two wireless access points. When either wireless access point is un-encrypted or uses WPA encryption, the IP is assigned and everything works. So, Slashdot: what's up with Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and Wireless WEP encryption?"
"FYI: There is no MAC address filtering and the WEP 64 key is 5 characters and the 128 key is 13 characters. I've tried the laptops in other WEP encrypted networks with the same results and I've tried other laptops on my network with same results. My Tivo and friends Windows 2000 latop both connect to the WEP encrypted network without any troubles and work just fine."
Sorry if I'm coming across as rude, but at what point did Slashdot become a tech support forum? This seems more like a question for a Windows board, not "News for Nerds, Stuff that matters."
You'll have to muck around in obscure parts of the 'control panel' to get there. That, or call tech support and give them grief.
Try using the wireless config utility that came with the nic instead.
Network connections -> click on the wlan nic-> properties->wirless networks->(uncheck) Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings.
Then go install the w2k drivers/config utility and use that for wireless config instead of the windows wireless netowrk wizard.
Grump.
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
Seriously: Grow up. A little Googling may do worlds of good for you.
It works fine on my Windows XP Pro SP2 machine. If XP SP2 + WEP was truly a major issue on standard installations, there'd be major news on it considering how widespread wireless use is. I'm not going to waste my time figuring out what's wrong with your configuration. We're not your free tech support.
Ask Slashdot is for asking people's opinions on things, not solving the problems you're too cheap to pay someone to solve for you.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb; en-us;821442
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Nothing. I have absolutely no relevent advice to give you. But I thought I'd post anyway because I love the sound of me typing.
He's saying what we're all thinking!
this has got to be the worst write-up I've seen for a while.
When connecting to any WEP (64 or 128) encrypted wireless network the laptops connect
WHAT laptops?? this is the second sentence of the write-up! Why the hell was a tech-support question with a piss-poor write-up accepted???
If you have WPA available to both machines, why are you using WEP?
Other than that, I want to know how the editors let a windows tech support question on a *nix biased board. Hell, even if it was, "I can't get iwconfig to work properly, and I think it's the way I've used ndiswrapper, are there any other open source tools or drivers available?" I still don't think it should have been accepted.
Next up on slashdot from the why-the-fuck dept. "How do I put IE on linux using WINE?"
Am I open minded towards open source, or closed minded towards closed source?
What the heck is going on. Slashdot is not a Technical support forum.
I should post:
---
Dear Ask Slashdot, I just got a new Dell, and need help setting up my new Printer. I can't get it working for anything! Windows XP SP2 and this Canon Printer I got from best buy, it just doesn't work! I think its all of Windows XP SP2, it just doesn't work with any printers. It must not be me, I has to be Microsoft.
I can't believe Microsoft DISABLED printer support in Windows XP SP2! It's ridiculous!!!
----
Modesty is one of life's greatest attributes
Hey BryceH, just give me a call so we can solve your problem: 1-800-642-7676
I happen to have the same problem. Windows wireless settings will NOT let me connect at my local cybercafe. I'm fairly knowlegable with wireless, and no amount of tweaking or fiddling could give me an IP. It would connect, but no packets would come back from the router. However, it seems to work just fine when I enable the software that comes with my wireless NIC. My home wireless works either way, so I don't think it's me.
The cashier said that about 1 in 10 people have the exact same problem, and nobody has yet been able to solve it, including their tech guy who comes in once a week.
So according to me at least, this is News for Nerds, Stuff That Matters. All you with wet blankets, buzz off!
Bork!
It sounds like the encryption settings are wrong on the laptop end:
- First, make sure you're using the latest drivers for the Wi-Fi cards in the laptops.
- Make sure you've got a good signal from the router.
- Make sure you're using the same exact key as are the devices that are able to connect successfully. This is probably the most important thing to try. My guess is that you're either misunderstanding the configuration menus for your Wi-Fi card, or that you're confused about how WEP works. Note that some cards let you put in the passphrase and key number (I've seen this on Netgear cards), while some require the hexadecimal key itself (I've seen this on Linksys cards).
- If you're trying to use a confguration app that came with the card, try disabling it and using WinXP Wireless Zero-Point Configuration (or whatever it's called) instead. If you're using the WinXP config tool, try disabling it (in the services menu) and use the app that came with the card instead.
- Make sure you're using valid TCP/IP settings for the Wi-Fi cards. It's possible that they're trying to use a static IP on the wrong subnet, or trying to talk to the router at the wrong address, or something along those lines.
- Search Google to see if others are having similar issues. There's probably a hundred forum threads out there somewhere that cover this already.
- Call the tech support for the company that made your Wi-Fi cards and/or access point. While you're most likely to just be insulted and not find the solution, they might have something on their troubleshooting list that you didn't think of.
As others have mentioned, why are you trying to use WEP if WPA works? I'm guessing that some of your devices don't support the latter, but you should have mentioned that...
You could also turn off encryption and use MAC address restrictions to prevent unauthorized users from connecting to the network.
Lastly, to keep my karma balanced: why was this accepted by the editors? It's not interesting or challenging - it's just an everyday sort of IT problem that you have to bang your head on repeatedly until you find the solution.
Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.
Try entering the 10 or 26 digit long HEX number when you are prompted for you WEP passphrase. This often works for me. It seems the XP Aglorithm for turning the passphrase into a hex passphrase doesn't quite work the way it is supposed to.
Password Authentication Bypassed for Root
"FYI: There is no MAC address filtering and the WEP 64 key is 5 characters and the 128 key is 13 characters. I've tried the laptops in other WEP encrypted networks with the same results and I've tried other laptops on my network with same results. My Tivo and friends Windows 2000 latop both connect to the WEP encrypted network without any troubles and work just fine."
Windows XP with SP2 runs just fine with WEP networks. You need to put hex characters (0-9 A-F) in the key.
Have fun.
Not quite the worst Slashdot story ever, but this is right up there with Zonk's "performing cunnilingus on a hardwood floor."
You need to reboot.
You did say windows right?
--
This sig cannot connect to WEP enabled access points
Dear Ask Slashdot,
I can't get my email. I think the internets are down. Please help.
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Wow, you really are inept.
If the hardware layer cant get a lock on the signal, the ethernet transport wont show anything (or better yet, requests for a DHCP address or broadcasts of services/MAC lookup).
I had this problem with Linux with wireless cards. Ethereal or other packet dumpers would NOT capture wireless frame information. Programs that would allow capture of frame information usually limited you to whatever bssid you were assigned to (in other words, you had to use a 'hack' to go AP or monitor mode, or rfmon as the wifi-ng group calls it).
If you had a Linksys card before connecting to a Linksys access point you may have just entered a "passphrase" from which the 4 full hexadecimal keys are generated. Linksys cards (at least the one that I had) allowed entry of either the passphrase or one of the full keys.
My experience with Windows XP SP2 (on a different machine with a built-in Intel WLAN card) is that the full hex key needs to be entered. I've always found XP's native WLAN support frustrating to use and stuck with the Intel software (i.e. don't "let Windows manage my wireless connections") - but that doesn't mean that it doesn't work.
It might be useful to give details about the network cards in the laptops and driver versions for them and the WAP ("latest versions" is fine but doesn't make it easy to compare version numbers).
This windows problem is EASILY solved. Wipe your hard disk and reinstall. Or, you can wait a year and I'm sure that Microsoft will come out with a new API that solves the problem. You can get the fix with an extremely inexpensive subscription to Microsoft Developer Network.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
Install Ethereal, see what's happening.
Fine if the problem is DHCP related, but doesn't Ethereal require special drivers (with 'monitor' support) to show 802.11 protocol info?
The Hacker's Guide To The Kernel: Don't panic()!
Okay. The issue of whether or not this story should be posted aside, here goes:
1st order of business:
I have a Linksys WAP54G access point and an Airlink 101 Wireless router
Wait, why do you have two access points? FYI, wireless routers are access points. Furthermore, why do you have two routers? The WAP54G is a router as well. Take one of those devices back to the store and re-evaluate your network design. For clarity, here's how it should look:
Wall ---wire --- > Cable/DSL modem ---wire ---> Wireless Router --- magic --> Computer
I'm going to hope you weren't thinking that the two Airlink and Linksys devices were going to communicate with each other wirelessly just because they both had "802.11G" written on them...
2nd
Make sure that the wireless card on your laptop (or PCMCIA card) supports 802.11G and not 802.11B--THEY TWO ARE DIFFERENT. Don't assume that it is. Check, it could be the source of your problem. Who knows, maybe you're connecting to your neighbor's 802.11b WAP that DOES have MAC address filtering? Just check.
3rd
Save yourself a lot of trouble and work from least complex --> most complex
Order of business should be as follows:
Each of those steps should be simple enough that you can Google for the appropriate answers--unless of course the card/router is bad (I have run into this). Worse comes to worse, get a geek friend of yours to come over and set it up for you. Bribe him with a bag of Doritos or... *gasp*... pay him.
-Grym
I have had this problem with a few different combos of hardware and in my experience, it has nothing to do with the os. It is almost always that the cards are from different companies and do things a little different. I have spent hours trying to make my atheros cards work on the same network as others and even disabling the special abilities of the atheros cards, they just don't play nice together. I bet that you could solve your problems by simply researching the chips that you are using.
Note that most of the people on this board haven't dealt with this kind of problem. Many times that is because they use expensive hardware rather than the fry's special. I on the other hand am rather poor and will make that crappy hardware work no matter what it takes. Find out what type of cards your friends have as well as your own and you will likely start to see a pattern.
What... WEP encryption? Ahh... I understand... oxymorons for geeks. If that is what it is... I could Ace the AP English exam.
I posted this question to the Slashdot editors as I thought that it would be an opportunity to get some answers to windows users everywhere. I did Google the question several different ways and yes I did investigate the Microsoft support database. I posted the question on Slashdot because neither Google nor Microsoft could provide an answer to the dilemma. Further, I've encountered many other people on the web with a similar question and no solutions. I'm using WPA encryption on the Airlink 101 and WEP on the Linksys as my Tivo can't use WPA and I'm not going to run an open network. I need the WEP question solved as like it or not, WEP is the standard network encryption as WPA hasn't caught on much. If anyone has a solution as to why it is that Windows XP has such trouble with WEP encryption and networking, myself and many others would greatly appreciate the help.
You guys are right, I didn't give enouph info in my origional post. Maybe I should have spent longer to try to solve the problem on my own. Either way, I've reviewd all the posts to date and I really must ask, why so much flaming? If you don't like the question or topic, just dont respond to it.
I've seen some vendor configuration tools that incorrectly create the hex key from a pass-phrase. That is, the same pass-phrase with the same encryption settings generate two unique hex strings. To get around the problem, I just use the hex string directly.
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
Thanks for the help, I believe I've already tried those ideas, but I'll run them though again for good measure a few more times. Its possible that I've miss-understood something so I'll go back and review to software and hardware, perhaps something isn't retaining its settings properly or something is miss aligned. As for the configuration tool, neither laptop came with a configuration tool besides the one built into windows, I guess HP and Sony are getting lazy. Called Linksys and HP support and neither had an answer for me, Linksys said it was bad hardware but I'd already ruled that out and HP just didn't respond. As for why I'm even trying to fix the problem? Well, I've done a fair amount of War Driving around town and found alot of WEP networks, even my work uses WEP (stupid huh?). So if I want to use the Wi-fi networks at work or at my friends place, I gota fix it. My Tivo cant use WPA yet. So I've got two access points, one for the WEP so the Tivo can use internet, the other for WPA so my laptops can connect. I did try using Google for a couple weeks to see if anyone had some ideas on the cause. Found an article on Microsoft about the problem resulting from an update to the OS but I don't have the update on either system. I thought maybe the problem was a hardware issue, but if that was the case then it wouldn't work with the WPA or un-encrypted modes. I went on the web and tried using 3rd party tools to generate the 64 and 128 bit encryption hashes to no effect. The system connects to the AP fine but then still doesn't get the IP or connect out if a static IP is entered. Even pasing the entire hex key into the password / key prompt with same results. I'm a System Administrator for an SF BayArea college with about 100+ MAC and PC computers. Believe me, I do know how to search the internet for problem solutions but I just can't find any for this one. **sigh** thanks for the assist, if you have any more ideas as to the possible cause / solution I'd be grateful for the help.... HumanCarbonUnit.
I ran into this recently, you have to think the "Microsoft Way". That means using Wizards to accomplish your goal. In that little Wireless Network Connection window that lets you connect to a network there is a link on the right titled "Set up a wireless network for a home or a small office". That allows you to enter a SSID and set your encryption settings.
Bleh!
Having gone through this in the past. I'm telling you the answer. You have not set, or you have incorrectly set your WEP key on the client.
To do an encrypted connection there must be a key on your side. Some WAP's may be able to provide it transparently but in your case the WAP is not, and your computer does not have it configured or not configured correctly. Some WAP's will give you a "text" key but it may not be interpreted the same by your client. Use the hex version.
That will solve your problem.
Don't use WEP, its very broken. Can be cracked in under 2 minutes, so don't bother. Its worse then having no security 'cos you think you have a secure connection when in actuallity you don't.
WPA is fine is you use a strong shared key.
I do have a the same linksys WAP with a winXP SP2 laptop and it works fine.
So if this was me I would try knoppix as a live CD, but be aware you may need the driver files for the wifi card on USB drive or a mountable drive.
I run this on an old PC cos I am not ready to wipe the Harddrive yet, just saved the windows drivers to usb and set knoppix to save my settings to said usb drive each time I use the machine.
if windows finds the AP but you do not get an IP try entering one manualy and THEN PINGING the router, it is quite different to says I can not get a valid IP vs I can not connect to the internet !
IF you can ping the router then check the DNS/routing table.
ERR 411[Max number of witty sigs reached]
Ethereal under Linux is perfectly capable of capturing the raw frame data from a wireless card. Most wireless cards support RFMON mode fine with standard drivers. Windows, it isn't so easy and requires a small subset of cards. But it is still possible.
WEP keys are either passphrase (5 digit ASCII for 56bit encryption, 10 digit for larger etc) or hex. A passphrase has ASCII and hex equivalents: a lot of wireless cards don't like the ASCII type. Put it in in hex, and it'll work. This isn't really worth of an ask-slashdot, however...
64-bit encryption is 13 characters and 128-bit is 26 characters.
Windows will attempt to connect and register with DHCP, but it will just hang if the key is incorrect. Try typing your key again, but don't type it into the key dialog. Type it in Notepad (or whatever editor you use) and then paste it into the password dialog.
I had similar problems on one of my set-ups. I usually use Windows 2000, but my dad's company uses Windows XP SP2. The laptop would connect successfully and have full signal strength, but wouldn't grab the DHCP lease that was given to it by the router. I tried releasing the lease and re-acquiring without no success. I've since dropped WEP with a firmware upgrade that allows my router to support WPA2/PSK which I've fully implemented. My advice: use AT LEAST WPA, WPA2 if possible (check web sites of access point/router for firmware upgrades). A 128-bit WEP key should be 26 characters (use hex values) anyway.
On the advice and link to the utility. I tried using the Broadcom wireless utility to connect to the WEP encrypted AP. Connected pretty fast but no go. I posted the question to the groups as after much google searching I found alot of people with similar questions and no solutions that worked. Thus, with so many windows users out there with an un-resolved problem thought slashdot might help Ok, i give up. I guess I'm just not going to be able to access WEP encrypted networks. I've tried: Isolating possibility of a bad AP or NIC by using two APs and Two Laptops Isolated possibility of Wireless config utility using Broadcom and Windows utilites on two laptops. Double checking length of key 5 char for 64 WEP 13 char for 128 WEP. Entered both forms of HEX keys manually and via copy / past Double check then triple checked that it was using either open or shared keys and made sure it lined up Tried it using WAP and Un-encrypted wireless setups and everything worked fine on both laptops and both APs Tried newest and slightly older drivers to no effect. Thanks for the help guys, I guess this is one of those Windows Annoyances thats just not going to get solved for anyone. If I ever post here again, I'll make sure the first post contains a better description of the symptoms of the problem and why I'm posting it on Ask Slashdot. And BTW everyone: Yes, I do read slashot everyday and yes, I did do alot of googling on the topic and spoke to friends and phone support alot before posting the question here. I'm also an experienced Sys Admin for an SF Bay Area college with about 60 PC and Apple computers and do as much of my own tech-support as I can, problem is that I can't solve evertying. Thanks agian for your time and effort Slashdot, Good wishes and luck to everyone.
So, wait. You've tried this with two computers on two different access points? That right there should tell you that either:
A. You've come accross a known issue with Windows XP SP2 Or somehow the hardware and/or software on the APs and/or your laptops failed at the sametime.
or
B. You suck at life
Now since I'm running Windows XP SP2 and have absolutely no issue connecting to any WEP wireless network, I'm guessing it's B but I could be wrong.
Seriously, you have to be doing something wrong. Take it by a local computer shop to see what's up or call support for linksys and/or your computer's maker and/or your wireless card's manufacturer.
My new laptop had the same problem both with the builtin wireless, and the card out of my older laptop. It would connect to my network, but wouldn't pick up a DHCP address and wouldn't work with a static address either. However it would join my neighbours unencrypted AP quite happily.
In the end, the only way I could get it to work was to disable WEP on my AP, this allowed the laptop to connect quite happily, I then re-enabled WEP and everything was fine.
where everyone gets angry about what got posted or not posted on slashdot. and the fact that people who complain about the quality of posts all still manage to bring themselves to read them at all. it's gold fellas, pure gold. keep it up.