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Post by Fnord Fred on Mar 11, 2006 19:25:07 GMT -4
Any computer nerds in here?
I've been trying to hook up an IBM wireless notebook with a Westell Versalink 327W wireless server/DSL modem. The problem is that, after I installed XP SP2, Windows keeps shortening the WEP code from 10 characters to 8. And I can't change the WEP because it's hard-wired into the Westell. Is there a way to get around this? Is there a better program to handle wireless connections than the windows default you would suggest?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
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Post by echnaton on Mar 12, 2006 23:46:36 GMT -4
I have installed a few Wi-Fi networks and security is a real pain. I can’t imagine how anyone thinks that something that balky should be used in a consumer product. Many folks just turn it off.
When I have difficulty with encryption on a remote computer, I have sometimes had luck by using the manufacturers driver rather than the one built into Windows.
Just in case you don’t know this, WEP provides poor security from a knowledgeable hacker. It is the equivalent of a cheap push button lock. It can keep out casual snoopers but anyone that wants to get on your network can do so.
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Post by LunarOrbit on Mar 13, 2006 0:41:08 GMT -4
I've had problems using WEP myself so I have it turned off (shhh! don't tell anyone). I use MAC address filtering so that only the two computers on my network can use it (theoretically at least).
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Post by Fnord Fred on Mar 13, 2006 2:14:36 GMT -4
Yeah, problem is the WEP is hard-coded into the modem. So I can't get around it without being a mad hacker or buying a new modem or wireless server.
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Post by LunarOrbit on Mar 13, 2006 2:43:21 GMT -4
Does your router have a web based administration page? Mine is a Linksys and it can be administered by entering an IP address into my web browser.
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Post by Fnord Fred on Mar 13, 2006 3:54:47 GMT -4
I don't think so. There's nothing in any of the paperwork mentioning it anyways.
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Post by Martina W. on Mar 13, 2006 20:28:37 GMT -4
I don't think so. There's nothing in any of the paperwork mentioning it anyways. Can you ping it on 192.168.1.1 (that is its default address)? If so, try to connect to that address in your browser. If that does not work something is seriously wrong. If your wireless card supports it you should go for WPA - the Westell can do that as far as I know. |
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Post by Fnord Fred on Mar 14, 2006 15:20:12 GMT -4
The thing has a hard-coded WEP, there's nothing in any of the paperwork mentioning a way around it. It wouldn't even be an issue if Windows would just let me put in a 10 character hexadecimal WEP, but everytime I do it it get's shortened down to 8 characters.
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Post by echnaton on Mar 14, 2006 18:16:11 GMT -4
Can you return it for another access point?
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Post by Martina W. on Mar 14, 2006 18:44:25 GMT -4
OK, let's try this systematically.
Is the Wireless Zero Configuration service running?
Try to disable/enable it and see if anything changes.
That service is installed with SP2 and is known to have issues with certain key lengths.
edit: added last sentence to clarify
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Post by Fnord Fred on Mar 14, 2006 19:54:18 GMT -4
Can you return it for another access point? I sincerely hope so, this is getting to be really annoying. Turns out 192.168.1.1 does work though, my bad. I've tryed disabling WEP security alltogether and it still doesn't want to connect though. I've also found a dandy little program Cisco made (Aironet Connect Utility) that's supposed to handle the wireless connection too. It seems to have a good connection but it won't send packets let alone let me surf the web. |
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Post by Fnord Fred on Mar 14, 2006 21:23:40 GMT -4
Not sure if this helps either, but:
I seem to be getting a lot of PLCP CRC errors. Basically one for every packet the laptop is getting.
If I try to use the repair option on the connection, I get a "Failed to query TCP/IP settings of the connection. Cannot proceed." error.
Ok, that's really weird - it's not working with an ethernet cable connection either. Could it be the laptop?
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Post by Martina W. on Mar 15, 2006 2:33:05 GMT -4
Ok, that's really weird - it's not working with an ethernet cable connection either. Could it be the laptop? It could be almost anything. Still sounds to me like a bunch of drivers and system services trying to work all at once while tripping over each other. Chances are that you won't solve that by installing more software. But we can find out if it is your laptop's hardware. Download an ISO image of a live linux distribution - I'd recommend the latest Knoppix www.knoppix.org/Burn it, make your laptop boot from CD and boot to Knoppix. It will try to figure out your hardware. Try to make an ethernet cable connection. Don't worry, this penguin does not bite, it won't touch anything on your hard drive and it will talk you through the configuration process. It's just that we need to start from a clean slate to isolate the problem. More later, got to go to work now. edit: added clarification (again) |
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Post by Fnord Fred on Mar 15, 2006 12:01:49 GMT -4
Will do. It'll take me a while because I'm lazy and have college today though. I'll let you know as soon as I get to it, probably around 8 tonight.
I take it that Knoppix is one of the more Windows user-friendly Linux distributions?
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Post by Martina W. on Mar 15, 2006 15:32:22 GMT -4
I take it that Knoppix is one of the more Windows user-friendly Linux distributions? Exactly. That's one reason why I recommend it to Windows users. The other is its very good hardware detection. You should end up with a complete graphical desktop environment quite similar to what you're used to in almost no time. |
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