Getting a Belkin 802.11g network card to use WEP

Earlier this year, in order for my son to use Internet on his computer
(with Windows XP), I acquired a Linksys WRT54G router and a Belkin
802.11g network card.

Configuring the Linksys was no problem, but I struggled for literally
hours to get the Belkin card to do anything. The screens produced by the
installation software bore only a passing resemblance to what was in the
user manual, I could make no connection, and eventually I gave up and
resolved to try another day.

A few weeks later my son reported that he had suddenly acquired an
Internet connection!! I didn't understand this but the connection worked
fine for months, so I decided that trying to understand it was a waste
of time.

I have just acquired a laptop for my work, and on connecting to the
Linksys I discovered what had happened: the Linksys had spontaneously
reset itself and disabled WEP. (This incidentally does not give me much
faith in Linksys equipment - is it a common problem?) Apparently the
Belkin card is happy to talk to an unsecured router, but not to use WEP.
During the installation I had entered the WEP key (and tried it again
.... and again ...)

Obviously I don't want my work going over an unsecured connection. I
re-enabled WEP on the Linksys. Connecting the laptop is no problem: it
pops up a window showing me my router (and two belonging to the
neighbours), I type in the WEP key and off we go.

But of course my son now has no internet connection again. No pop-up
appears for him.

How on earth do I persuade the Belkin card to use WEP?

--
Stephen Poley

>I have just acquired a laptop for my work, and on connecting to the
>Linksys I discovered what had happened: the Linksys had spontaneously
>reset itself and disabled WEP. (This incidentally does not give me much
>faith in Linksys equipment - is it a common problem?) Apparently the
>Belkin card is happy to talk to an unsecured router, but not to use WEP.
>During the installation I had entered the WEP key (and tried it again
>... and again ...)

Hmm. A kid in the house who wants his Internet to work and a Linksys
router that is now reset. It isn't the linksys I would be wondering
about in this case. Kids are smarter than you think.. especially
when you leave something they want to work broken for weeks. Ask me
how i know :-)

>How on earth do I persuade the Belkin card to use WEP?

I would disable the Belkin software and use windows to configure the
wireless connection. You can use msconfig to stop the belkin stuff
from running at startup. You may have to go to services and turn on
the wireless network manager for XP.

Steve B,

Steve B. wrote:

> > I have just acquired a laptop for my work, and on connecting to the
> > Linksys I discovered what had happened: the Linksys had
> > spontaneously reset itself and disabled WEP. (This incidentally
> > does not give me much faith in Linksys equipment - is it a common
> > problem?) Apparently the Belkin card is happy to talk to an
> > unsecured router, but not to use WEP. During the installation I
> > had entered the WEP key (and tried it again ... and again ...)
>
> Hmm. A kid in the house who wants his Internet to work and a Linksys
> router that is now reset. It isn't the linksys I would be wondering
> about in this case. Kids are smarter than you think.. especially
> when you leave something they want to work broken for weeks. Ask me
> how i know :-)
>
> > How on earth do I persuade the Belkin card to use WEP?
>
> I would disable the Belkin software and use windows to configure the
> wireless connection. You can use msconfig to stop the belkin stuff
> from running at startup. You may have to go to services and turn on
> the wireless network manager for XP.
>
> Steve B,

I have a similar Belkin 54G PCI card, and for any of these cards to
work you MUST use the Belkin software.

You also MUST NOT let Windows manage the connection.

The software MUST be installed either BEFORE you install the card , or
with the card DISABLED.

I suggest you try the following:

1) remove the network connection
2) unistall the Belkin software
3) disable the Belkin card
4) re-boot
5) install the Belkin software - it is essential you DO NOT allow
windows to manage the wifi connection either via the Belkin software
check box, or in the windows network configuration area.
6) Using the Belkin software, configure the network SSID and the WEP
passphrase
7) The card should now connect.

The Belkin instructions that come with this card clearly spell out the
requirements for using this card. Ignore them at your peril.

Trying to use Windows will stuff up the install and get you into an
endless conect/drop connection loop.

Cheers

Rob

--

me here wrote:

> Steve B. wrote:
>
> > > I have just acquired a laptop for my work, and on connecting to
> > > the Linksys I discovered what had happened: the Linksys had
> > > spontaneously reset itself and disabled WEP. (This incidentally
> > > does not give me much faith in Linksys equipment - is it a common
> > > problem?) Apparently the Belkin card is happy to talk to an
> > > unsecured router, but not to use WEP. During the installation I
> > > had entered the WEP key (and tried it again ... and again ...)
> >
> > Hmm. A kid in the house who wants his Internet to work and a
> > Linksys router that is now reset. It isn't the linksys I would be
> > wondering about in this case. Kids are smarter than you think..
> > especially when you leave something they want to work broken for
> > weeks. Ask me how i know :-)
> >
> > > How on earth do I persuade the Belkin card to use WEP?
> >
> > I would disable the Belkin software and use windows to configure the
> > wireless connection. You can use msconfig to stop the belkin stuff
> > from running at startup. You may have to go to services and turn on
> > the wireless network manager for XP.
> >
> > Steve B,
>
> I have a similar Belkin 54G PCI card, and for any of these cards to
> work you MUST use the Belkin software.
>
> You also MUST NOT let Windows manage the connection.
>
> The software MUST be installed either BEFORE you install the card , or
> with the card DISABLED.
>
> I suggest you try the following:
>
> 1) remove the network connection
> 2) unistall the Belkin software
> 3) disable the Belkin card
> 4) re-boot
> 5) install the Belkin software - it is essential you DO NOT allow
> windows to manage the wifi connection either via the Belkin software
> check box, or in the windows network configuration area.
> 6) Using the Belkin software, configure the network SSID and the WEP
> passphrase
> 7) The card should now connect.
>
> The Belkin instructions that come with this card clearly spell out the
> requirements for using this card. Ignore them at your peril.
>
> Trying to use Windows will stuff up the install and get you into an
> endless conect/drop connection loop.
>
> Cheers
>
> Rob

Forgot to say to re-enable the card AFTER reinstallation of the Belkin
software.

Cheers again

Rob

--

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:27:25 -0500, Steve B. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>>I have just acquired a laptop for my work, and on connecting to the
>>Linksys I discovered what had happened: the Linksys had spontaneously
>>reset itself and disabled WEP. (This incidentally does not give me much
>>faith in Linksys equipment - is it a common problem?) Apparently the
>>Belkin card is happy to talk to an unsecured router, but not to use WEP.
>>During the installation I had entered the WEP key (and tried it again
>>... and again ...)
>
>Hmm. A kid in the house who wants his Internet to work and a Linksys
>router that is now reset. It isn't the linksys I would be wondering
>about in this case. Kids are smarter than you think.. especially
>when you leave something they want to work broken for weeks. Ask me
>how i know :-)

While your scepticism is amply justified in general, my son is very open
in these sorts of things. If he had discovered a way of fixing something
that his father had been unable to, he would have boasted about it to
the whole neighbourhood. :-)

Now I think about it, he discovered the working connection when we
returned after having been away for a few days. Is it possible that the
Linksys uses an internal battery to retain the settings, and that it has
an inadequate capacity?

--
Stephen Poley

On 18 Nov 2007 13:14:56 +1050, "me here" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>I have a similar Belkin 54G PCI card, and for any of these cards to
>work you MUST use the Belkin software.
>
>You also MUST NOT let Windows manage the connection.
>
>The software MUST be installed either BEFORE you install the card , or
>with the card DISABLED.
>
>I suggest you try the following:

.....

OK, essentially what you are suggesting is that if I made any mistake on
the first attempt to install the card, all subsequent attempts would
fail as well, and I need to go right back to square 1. Thanks for that -
I'll give it a try.
--
Stephen Poley

On 18 Nov 2007 13:18:36 +1050, "me here" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>me here wrote:
>
>> I suggest you try the following:
>>
>> 1) remove the network connection
>> 2) unistall the Belkin software
>> 3) disable the Belkin card
>> 4) re-boot
>> 5) install the Belkin software - it is essential you DO NOT allow
>> windows to manage the wifi connection either via the Belkin software
>> check box, or in the windows network configuration area.
>> 6) Using the Belkin software, configure the network SSID and the WEP
>> passphrase
>> 7) The card should now connect.
>>

Unfortunately when I try to remove the network connection, Windows says
it can't, without giving a reason. (I have disabled the connection
first.)

And when I try uninstalling the software, an Install-Shield window pops
up for a fraction of a second and nothing further happens. It does the
same whether I use Belkin's own uninstall menu option or try it via
Windows.

What am I overlooking?

--
Stephen Poley

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 10:17:30 +0100, Stephen Poley
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On 18 Nov 2007 13:18:36 +1050, "me here" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>wrote:
>
>>me here wrote:
>>
>>> I suggest you try the following:
>>>
>>> 1) remove the network connection
....
>
>Unfortunately when I try to remove the network connection, Windows says
>it can't, without giving a reason. (I have disabled the connection
>first.)
>
>And when I try uninstalling the software, an Install-Shield window pops
>up for a fraction of a second and nothing further happens. It does the
>same whether I use Belkin's own uninstall menu option or try it via
>Windows.
>
>What am I overlooking?

OK, I was thinking that Belkin's uninstall option would uninstall all
Belkin's software (was that so unreasonable?). But no: one first has to
remove the driver using Windows and then the rest of the software with
Belkin's uninstall option.

So - I went back to square 1. Even physically removed the card.

I then followed Belkin's instructions as exactly as I could, but the
description in the manual simply doesn't match what the software
actually does. For example, on one screen I am supposed to clear an
option "Use Windows to configure wireless network settings", but that
option is not present on any tab of the screen. And in the Belkin
software there is no field (on any tab) to enter the WEP key. (I can
also no longer find a field in Windows to enter that information; I'm
not sure whether I've just forgotten where to look, or whether something
else has changed.)

I am utterly baffled as to what I should do.

--
Stephen Poley

>
>Now I think about it, he discovered the working connection when we
>returned after having been away for a few days. Is it possible that the
>Linksys uses an internal battery to retain the settings, and that it has
>an inadequate capacity?


Those units will hold their settings for months or longer without
power. I have had a couple issues where strange power things have
happened and caused a few to reset, but it isn't something I see as
common. Backup your configuration just in case it ever happens again
but don't worry about it.... probably just a fluke.

Visit the Belkin website on another computer and download the current
software for your card and try to install. www.belkin.com then pick
support from the left hand side. Run the new install with the card
out and, if possible, but the card back in a different slot when the
software tells you to install.

I have seven of these cards in the field and have had much better luck
with these cards letting windows manage the wireless network
connection though another poster says that won't work so I can't offer
any guarantee as he may have found something I don't know.

As a last resort a few places will have the linksys cards on sale next
weekend.

Steve B.

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 08:58:13 -0500, Steve B. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>>Now I think about it, he discovered the working connection when we
>>returned after having been away for a few days. Is it possible that the
>>Linksys uses an internal battery to retain the settings, and that it has
>>an inadequate capacity?
>
>
>Those units will hold their settings for months or longer without
>power. I have had a couple issues where strange power things have
>happened and caused a few to reset, but it isn't something I see as
>common. Backup your configuration just in case it ever happens again
>but don't worry about it.... probably just a fluke.

Thanks.

Since my last post my son has been kicking around the options and he
eventually managed to persuade the Belkin software to put up a screen to
enter the WEP. (The Belkin manual looks good, but is about as much use
as a chocolate fireguard. I think they rewrote the software and didn't
update the manual.) But having done so, we still don't have a
connection.

As a result this ...

>As a last resort a few places will have the linksys cards on sale next
>weekend.

.... is beginning to look like the only remaining option.

--
Stephen Poley