WEP Problems

[ragman]

Has anyone had this problem before? If so, can anyone help me out here?

I have the Linksys Wireless Router/4 port switch (BEFW11S4 v2), a Gateway (the make) desktop PC with NIC, and a Toshiba laptop with built in 802.11b wireless (not centrino).

I can wire the desktop to the router (via CAT5 cable), get an IP address and log on fine, I can also do the same with the laptop (using wireless). I can ping everything from both dekstop and laptop PCs, share files etc.

But when I try to implement WEP, the laptop connection dies and it cannot connect to the router at all. The router supports 64 & 128 bit WEP. Whereas the laptop supports 104 & 40 bit WEP. The Linksys router manual states that 40 bit and 64 bit WEP are exactly the same, just worded differently.
But anytime I try to implement WEP with either a 5 digit or 13 lenght key, I lose the laptop connection.

I've upgraded the router firmware, but still no luck. Has anyone had this problem before? From looking at the Linksys website, their USB wireless NIC (WUSB 11) also only supports 104 & 40 bit WEP. SO how the heck do they expect that to connect to the router also?

Any help would be appreciated!!

[Greenstead]

64bit and 40bit WEP are the same. The reason for the difference is that the secret KEY is 40 bits long (represented to you as a 10 digit Hex number) and the rest (24 bits) is a random string used to encrypt the secret key which is varied. The secret KEY is the part all the devices have to know in advance. There is a simlar breakdown for 128 (104) bit WEP. You can read a brief explanation here:
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/1368661

The general reason for the difficulty to enter the same key in the Access Point and Wireless cards is the different way vendors provide to set it up. Some make you enter the secret key directly in hex, some use a passpharase to generate the key. (The same passphrase always generates the same key). XP's wireless configuration requires you enter the key itself.

What I normally do is use a passphrase in the Access Point to generate the (10 or 26 digit) hex key, which I cut and paste into the card configuration before I apply it. You can't do this with all Access Points.

Its a confusing subject. I hope that helps.

[ragman]

Thanks for that info mate. I looked into it and managed to get it working fine. I now have my wireless LAN running under 64 bit security. I was gonna go for the 128 bit, but thought no one would be that desperate in wanting to hack into my PCs.

Thanks for your help mate!!!