need help with wep and my xp laptop

[Brownfloaty]

I've just bought a new linksys wireless router and a linksys usb wireless adaptor. I have 2 desktops running win 98 with the wireless usb adaptors, 1 desktop with xp that is connected to the router with an ethernet cable, and an xp laptop that borrows the wireless usb adaptor when needed.

I have managed to set up the router and two win98 desktops in the default completely open settings on the router. Both of those systems are recieving good strong signals. I tested the laptop and it also works with the usb adaptor in completley open mode.

Next I went and started locking down the router. I changed the ssid, disabled broadcast ssid, and turned on 128 wep.

I adjusted the two win98 desktops to these new settings and both are working great.

The xp laptop however will not find the router unless I turn broadcast ssid back on. The setup in xp seems pretty simple, not much to play with. I've punched in my 26 digit key and have the correct ssid listed. The laptop has no problem finding and connecting if broadcast ssid is on.

I'm sure I am probably missing something simple in the xp setup. Can anyone shed some light to what I need to adjust so that I don't have to keep broadcasting my ssid?

[Greenstead]

I have never tried this since my wireless router cannot disable its SSID broadcast. But I don't know of anything else you should have to do other than enter the SSID as a preferred network under XP's wireless settings in the connection. Are you sure there's no entry mistake in the SSID name.

[Brownfloaty]

I've been doing some reading this evening by microsoft and it looks like the problem I am having is definitly because of xp. More specifically, Windows wireless zero configuration (wzc). The article I was reading is here:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...kb;en-us;811427

and here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr...eguy/cg1102.asp

=="All access points must broadcast their SSID to identify themselves to potential clients that are in the area. Disabling SSID broadcasts on an access point is not considered a valid method for securing a wireless network."==

Leaving broadcast ssid on solves the problem I was having and according to this article it doesn't help me with security anyhow. So I guess I can leave it on and not worry?

=="If there are no preferred networks in the list of those available, the WZC service attempts to configure connections to the preferred networks in their configured order. This is done in case the access points for the wireless network are configured to prohibit the beaconing of their network name (SSID)."==

From this second quote, It sounds like (wzc) should be finding my network when I have it set to not broadcast my ssid? But it doesn't... hence my problem.

So, the quick simple fix is to just let it broadcast my ssid to my neighbors. What are the odds I have malicious neighbors where I live? Pretty small I'd venture to guess.

I'd still like to manage to make it work and keep my ssid hidden, though. At least I am learning new and interesting things from this whole experience!

:D

[Greenstead]

It does sound like that may be a bug. You might try posting it in the M$ forums and get some feedback:
http://support.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.aspx

There are a number of levels of scurity you can consider. It depends on your situation to be sensible as to what is required.
In my wireless setup I use MAC address authentication to prevent unauthorised connections but I do not use WEP since I don't care if someone sniffs my boring wireless data.