Alternative to Intel PROSet?

Hi

I'm trying to help a friend use her HP/Compaq NC6000 that
apparently comes with an Intel 2200BG card work with the Linksys
WRT54GS router I installed (successfully).

The issue I'm having, is that it connects fine with no access control
(default), but fails when configuring the Linksys to use WPA Personal.

Incidently, she finds the the Intel PROSet connection applet.

So...

1. How should I configure the Linksys and the laptop to speak WPA so
as to keep non-authorized users out of her AP?

2. Should I look at an alternative application that works with her
embedded wifi card?

3. How come there's no comp.*.wifi ng on Usenet (tried wifi, wi-fi,
wireless, wlan, with not much chance)?

Thank you.

On Fri, 19 May 2006 13:31:34 +0200, Vincent Delporte
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Incidently, she finds the the Intel PROSet connection applet.

Correction:

"Incidently, she finds the Intel PROSet connection applet not that
great to use" :-)

Vincent Delporte <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>"Incidently, she finds the Intel PROSet connection applet not that
>great to use" :-)

So don't use it. Install the latest Intel drivers and use the
WinXP(*) WPA supplicant.

(*) I can only assume because you didn't tell us that she's running
XP.

On Fri, 19 May 2006 10:00:39 -0400, William P.N. Smith
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>So don't use it. Install the latest Intel drivers and use the
>WinXP(*) WPA supplicant.

OK, but what is this? A free connection manager from MS?

Thx.

Vincent Delporte <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

> I'm trying to help a friend use her HP/Compaq NC6000 that
>apparently comes with an Intel 2200BG card work with the Linksys
>WRT54GS router I installed (successfully).
>
>The issue I'm having, is that it connects fine with no access control
>(default), but fails when configuring the Linksys to use WPA Personal.

Hardware version number of the WRT54GS router? It's on the serial
number tag. If it's a WRT54GS version 5 hardware, make absolutely
sure it's the latest firmware (which still doesn't work quite right).

I just went through a similar exercise on a Netgear WPN824 wireless
router. They just couldn't get WPA2-PSK to work with 3 different
laptops all using Netgear products and drivers. It was 3 versions of
firmware behind. An update solved the problem. It also solved a
really crappy thruput problem with high latency (Direcway)
connections.

>Incidently, she finds the the Intel PROSet connection applet.

Good. Can she find the version of Proset she's using? 10.1.1.3 is
the current version. It's well worth the monsterous 80Mbyte download.
Much better control over everything and in my opinion, probably the
best wireless client around.
http://support.intel.com/support/wir.../CS-010623.htm

>1. How should I configure the Linksys and the laptop to speak WPA so
>as to keep non-authorized users out of her AP?

Use WPA-PSK TKIP and not WPA2-PSK AES. Linksys calls this WPA
Personal and WPA2 Personal. WPA2 has better encryption and
authentication, but I keep running into bugs and glitches. WPA-PSK
seems "good enough". Do not bother with WEP as it's not particularly
secure.
http://www.linksysdata.com/ui/WRT54G.../WSecurity.htm

>2. Should I look at an alternative application that works with her
>embedded wifi card?

No. Proset works just fine with everything I've ever tried. However,
the Proset 9.x stuff was a bit glitchy. There were no connection
problems that I know about, but it did have the nasty habit of
dropping in speed in the presence of interference, and never
recovering.

If you must look of an alternative, there's a check box somewhere that
mumbles "Let Windoze manage the wirless network". That activates
Wireless Zero Config, which might work. I much prefer Proset to WZC
and suggest you continue trying to make it work before resorting to
WZC.

>3. How come there's no comp.*.wifi ng on Usenet (tried wifi, wi-fi,
>wireless, wlan, with not much chance)?

Dunno. Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. I suppose such a
group would only about their certification efforts. There are also
many different types of wireless connectivity discussed besides Wi-Fi.
The world is not all Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g) based. However, the real
reason is creating a new group under the comp.* newsgroups requires an
ordeal process with discussions and votes. I was once involved in a
reorganization of the SCO Unix newsgroups. It took about 2 years.
Under the alt.*, you just newgroup it and convince your usenet news
provider to add the group to its feed. Much easier and faster.


--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

I'm using an Intel 2200BG w/ WRT54G v2 router. I currently use WPA2 Personal
w/ TKIP+AES, without any issues. Check the Authentication Type in the
router's admin area, and try AUTO as opposed to SHARED KEY.

-phil


"Vincent Delporte" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi
>
> I'm trying to help a friend use her HP/Compaq NC6000 that
> apparently comes with an Intel 2200BG card work with the Linksys
> WRT54GS router I installed (successfully).
>
> The issue I'm having, is that it connects fine with no access control
> (default), but fails when configuring the Linksys to use WPA Personal.
>
> Incidently, she finds the the Intel PROSet connection applet.
>
> So...
>
> 1. How should I configure the Linksys and the laptop to speak WPA so
> as to keep non-authorized users out of her AP?
>
> 2. Should I look at an alternative application that works with her
> embedded wifi card?
>
> 3. How come there's no comp.*.wifi ng on Usenet (tried wifi, wi-fi,
> wireless, wlan, with not much chance)?
>
> Thank you.

Vincent Delporte <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>I<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>So don't use it. Install the latest Intel drivers and use the
>>WinXP(*) WPA supplicant.

>OK, but what is this? A free connection manager from MS?

It's the one that's built into WinDoze XP, though maybe only SP2 and
better? Configure the PROset app to let WinDoze run the connection
for you.

Jeff Liebermann <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Good. Can she find the version of Proset she's using? 10.1.1.3 is
>the current version. It's well worth the monsterous 80Mbyte download.
>Much better control over everything and in my opinion, probably the
>best wireless client around.
> http://support.intel.com/support/wir.../CS-010623.htm

Is anyone else getting a broken link there and a "no longer available
for download" when picking Wireless and 2200BG, or is it just because
I'm out the "the" country?

On Fri, 19 May 2006 12:46:07 -0400, William P.N. Smith
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>It's the one that's built into WinDoze XP, though maybe only SP2 and
>better? Configure the PROset app to let WinDoze run the connection
>for you.

Thx, I'll check it out, in addition to the firmware version on the
Linksys and the PROSet applet.

William P.N. Smith <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>Jeff Liebermann <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>Good. Can she find the version of Proset she's using? 10.1.1.3 is
>>the current version. It's well worth the monsterous 80Mbyte download.
>>Much better control over everything and in my opinion, probably the
>>best wireless client around.
>> http://support.intel.com/support/wir.../CS-010623.htm

>Is anyone else getting a broken link there and a "no longer available
>for download" when picking Wireless and 2200BG, or is it just because
>I'm out the "the" country?

Works for me. I had to go through about 3 pages after the above URL,
but it eventually started the download. I think the downloaded file
is fully localized and should have all the regulatory areas. Maybe
try one of the international Intel web piles? Nope. I just tried the
UK site and the Proset downloads page ended up exactly the same.

I'm in the Peoples Republic of Santa Cruz California. Is Homeland
Security watching your downloads? Maybe they're causing the broken
link?

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558