[paingold]

Hi,
I recently purchased the Linksys WAP11 (Access point). I am unfamiliar with how to go about setting up the wep keys.
Every time I try my G4 loses it's connection with the AP and I am unable to access the admin screen. Therefore I keep having to reset the AP.
I read on another post that you need to add "$" (without quotes). I am unsure if this is for the hex or ASCII. Does it matter? The insturctions that came with this were kind of vague.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Nobody]

I haven't used the WAP11, but I've used LinkSys's BEFW11S4. I believe you enter the WEP key into the Mac airport software as $hexstring. (The ascii you feed the Linksys is just a seed it uses to generate that random hex string - the hex string is what you're looking for.) If your WAP11 is like the BEFW11S4, it will report more than one hex string - a choice of sorts. I just use the first one.

[paingold]

I'm still not getting this.

Do I need to include a "$" (without the quotes) in the "Phassphrase" in the WEP Key Setting window? Or do I just add the "$" (without the quotes) when I get the "enter password" dialog box?
I wish there was some better documentation on this somewhere. I'm begining to miss my graphite station...that was a no brainer compared to this.

[ 08-26-2002: Message edited by: paingold ]

[paingold]

sorry double post

[ 08-26-2002: Message edited by: paingold ]

[Officetom]

I am using Jaguar and the area where you are talking about entering the WEP code is this the area that has network and password? I can't seem to find anything other then this that deals with encryption of the airport card in this machine. How does one tell it to use the 128 bit encryption?

If it is the area above if you can confirm it would be appreciated.

[Nobody]

There are two different things being configured: The Macintosh and the Wireless Access Point ("airport base station" in Apple parlance). (If you are running more than one Mac/PC on the wireless network, every Mac and every PC needs to be configured, but the WAP/ABS only needs to be set up once.)

Whether WEP is being used (and its key size) is established by the wireless access point, using whatever utility configures the product you are using. (In the case of a LinkSys that's via a web browser; if you are using Apple's Airport Base Station it is the Airport Admin Utility.)

When your Mac attempts to connect to the wireless access point, it determines if encryption is being used based on whether the access point demands it. If the Mac detects WEP being used, it uses the password you entered in the Airport tab of the Network system preference application; if you didn't fill one in in Network preferences, Internet Connect pops up a dialog asking for the password to join the wireless network (with a check-box offering to remember it for you on the Keychain, as I recall.)

With the Linksys WAP, you configure the Linksysy and turn on WEP using your Mac's browser to access the WAP (enter address blank>http://168.192.1.251 or blank>http://192.168.1.1 in the browser URL field, whichever your LinkSys model uses. See the manual that came with it for the address to use.) You enter the LinkSys's admin password (which is "admin" when the LinkSys is first turned on - something you should be sure to change later), and you get a web page provided by the LinkSys itself which you use to configure it. The "Setup" tab on this page has a button by "WEP" to make it mandatory, and a WEP Key Settings button, at which point you need to generate a key.

The Linksys generates a key based on a passphrase. You enter some passphrase and click generate (whatever passprhase you like, though it shouldn't be easy to guess. I usually just let my fingers to some random tapping on the keyboard. I've never needed to remember it.). the LinkSys then displays a web page with the hexadecimal string that is the key it just generated. (Linksys actually generates several possible keys, and lets you pick one.) You copy the key you are going to use down someplace, like a Stickie.

Later, you will be prompted by the Mac to enter that key to let your Mac re-connect to the LinkSys. (Indeed, once you turn on WEP in the wireless access point every Mac or PC will need to have that key to use the wireless network.) When you enter a hexadecimal key into Internet Connect's popup password dialog, or into the System Preference's Network's Airport tab's "password" field, you precede the hexadecimal string with a dollar sign ($) so it knows it's a hexadecimal string. (if you were using Apple's airport Base Station, the key would consist of any characters, not just hexadecimal 0-9 & A-F). Since a hexadecimal string such as "FEED32" could be interpreted either way, you have to provide the dollar symbol ($) to let the Mac know which way to interpret what you typed. A check-box called "the key was entered in hexadecimal" might have been less confusing, but "$" is what Apple chose.

[ 08-30-2002: Message edited by: car1son ]

[paingold]

Thanks for all the info.

I finally got things working! For some reason, for the longest time my wep key (even with the "$") was not working when prompted for. I gave up trying for a few days. Then last night the WAP11 access point finally let me connect !
images/icons/smile.gif

[ 09-06-2002: Message edited by: paingold ]