I have an interesting problem

I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I used
128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.

My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a good
time to upgrade to Windows XP.

I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window. However,
(correctly) according to windows the router is WEP-encrypted. But for some
reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get a Windows message saying that it
has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key and can only be a certain number of ascii
characters.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
Schiz

First, if your router and access card support it, switch from WEP to WPA.
That should solve things and encryption will be much stronger. On the other
hand, if you can't...

Unlike with WPA, there is no standard for generating a WEP key from a
passphrase. Thus, you need to know the key your passphrase generates when
you enter it in the router (your router should display this). This key then
needs to be entered in XP. For whatever reason (and I do not know if this
has been fixed in SP2), you cannot copy and paste the key from a web page.
Apparently, XP's wireless config program cannot properly handle formatted
text. What you can do is copy it from the router's config page (formatting
is present), paste it into Notepad (formatting is removed), copy it from
Notepad (no formatting is present) and now paste it into XP's wireless
config program.

-Yves

"Schizoid Man" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:cm6q8m$jas$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I used
> 128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.
>
> My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a good
> time to upgrade to Windows XP.
>
> I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
> However,
> (correctly) according to windows the router is WEP-encrypted. But for some
> reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get a Windows message saying that it
> has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key and can only be a certain number of
> ascii
> characters.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks in advance.
> Schiz
>
>

The problem is that I don't have access to the router, therefore I don't
have the key.

If I had access to the router, I would have simply deleted the WEP
encryption.

"Yves Konigshofer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:cm7bqk$pbu$(E-Mail Removed)...
> First, if your router and access card support it, switch from WEP to WPA.
> That should solve things and encryption will be much stronger. On the
other
> hand, if you can't...
>
> Unlike with WPA, there is no standard for generating a WEP key from a
> passphrase. Thus, you need to know the key your passphrase generates when
> you enter it in the router (your router should display this). This key
then
> needs to be entered in XP. For whatever reason (and I do not know if this
> has been fixed in SP2), you cannot copy and paste the key from a web page.
> Apparently, XP's wireless config program cannot properly handle formatted
> text. What you can do is copy it from the router's config page
(formatting
> is present), paste it into Notepad (formatting is removed), copy it from
> Notepad (no formatting is present) and now paste it into XP's wireless
> config program.
>
> -Yves
>
> "Schizoid Man" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:cm6q8m$jas$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I used
> > 128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.
> >
> > My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a good
> > time to upgrade to Windows XP.
> >
> > I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
> > However,
> > (correctly) according to windows the router is WEP-encrypted. But for
some
> > reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get a Windows message saying that
it
> > has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key and can only be a certain number of
> > ascii
> > characters.
> >
> > Any ideas?
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
> > Schiz
> >
> >
>
>

40 bit ascii can be a word like apple
128 (actually 104) can be a word like appleandpeach

You are probably trying to input the key in hex. You might search for a hex
to ascii conversion table and see if you can transate the hex back to ascii.

apple in this case is hex 61 70 70 6C 65



"Schizoid Man" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:cm6q8m$jas$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I used
> 128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.
>
> My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a good
> time to upgrade to Windows XP.
>
> I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
However,
> (correctly) according to windows the router is WEP-encrypted. But for some
> reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get a Windows message saying that it
> has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key and can only be a certain number of
ascii
> characters.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks in advance.
> Schiz
>
>

Schizoid Man wrote:

> The problem is that I don't have access to the router, therefore I don't
> have the key.
>
> If I had access to the router, I would have simply deleted the WEP
> encryption.
>
> "Yves Konigshofer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:cm7bqk$pbu$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>>First, if your router and access card support it, switch from WEP to WPA.
>>That should solve things and encryption will be much stronger. On the
>
> other
>
>>hand, if you can't...
>>
>>Unlike with WPA, there is no standard for generating a WEP key from a
>>passphrase. Thus, you need to know the key your passphrase generates when
>>you enter it in the router (your router should display this). This key
>
> then
>
>>needs to be entered in XP. For whatever reason (and I do not know if this
>>has been fixed in SP2), you cannot copy and paste the key from a web page.
>>Apparently, XP's wireless config program cannot properly handle formatted
>>text. What you can do is copy it from the router's config page
>
> (formatting
>
>>is present), paste it into Notepad (formatting is removed), copy it from
>>Notepad (no formatting is present) and now paste it into XP's wireless
>>config program.
>>
>>-Yves
>>
>>"Schizoid Man" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>news:cm6q8m$jas$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>>>I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I used
>>>128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.
>>>
>>>My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a good
>>>time to upgrade to Windows XP.
>>>
>>>I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
>>>However,
>>>(correctly) according to windows the router is WEP-encrypted. But for
>
> some
>
>>>reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get a Windows message saying that
>
> it
>
>>>has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key and can only be a certain number of
>>>ascii
>>>characters.
>>>
>>>Any ideas?
>>>
>>>Thanks in advance.
>>>Schiz
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

So, you are trying to steal service from somebody's router? And we should
help you why?

OK, if you have permission to use the WAP but don't personally have physical
access, then ask a person who does have access to log into the router's
WEPkey setting page and copy down the passkey. You can then type this into
your WirelessWidget's configuration page.
--
Cheers, Bob

Schizoid Man wrote:
> I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I
> used 128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.
>
> My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a
> good time to upgrade to Windows XP.
>
> I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
> However, (correctly) according to windows the router is
> WEP-encrypted. But for some reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get
> a Windows message saying that it has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key
> and can only be a certain number of ascii characters.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks in advance.
> Schiz

Reset the router to factory: hold in the reset button for a minute.
Connect to the router wirelessly without security, enter the WEP
passphrase, and *copy the first generated key* to use on the computer.
Alternatively, connect to the router by ethernet and copy the key.

Q

On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 00:19:24 -0800, "Schizoid Man" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>The problem is that I don't have access to the router, therefore I don't
>have the key.

I'll assume that it's your router. Just reset the router to defaults
and start over. Then use either a 5 character (40bit) or 13 character
(128bit) WEP key. What's happening is that when you enter the WEP key
in ASCII text, the firmware converts your text into hexadecimal
gibberish to use as a key. That key has to be the exact correct
length (10 or 26 hex chars). To make it easier to invent a suitable
WEP key, some vendors allow longer keys, and just use the first 10/16
hex chars. That works fine until you run into a vendor that doesn't
believe in truncation and demands that you use the correct length key.
It's really ugly in a mixed environment. If that seems to be the
problem, try using on the first 5 or 13 ASCII characters of the known
WEP key, or just use a hex WEP key with is always the correct 10 or 26
hex chars in length.

>If I had access to the router, I would have simply deleted the WEP
>encryption.

On the other hand, if it's NOT your router, methinks you should make
your peace with the owner or cease trying to abuse his wireless
system.


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

"Bob Willard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message

> So, you are trying to steal service from somebody's router? And we should
> help you why?

Bob, please read my original post. I wiped my hard drive and upgraded the OS
after I encrypted the router. I remember the passphrase, but unfortunately
Windows XP does not accept passphrases, it only accepts encryption keys.

So no, I am not trying to steal service from anyone else's router.

>
> OK, if you have permission to use the WAP but don't personally have
physical
> access, then ask a person who does have access to log into the router's
> WEPkey setting page and copy down the passkey. You can then type this
into
> your WirelessWidget's configuration page.

I have physical access to the router, but how do I enter the passphrase when
Windows only accepts a key?

"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 00:19:24 -0800, "Schizoid Man" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> On the other hand, if it's NOT your router, methinks you should make
> your peace with the owner or cease trying to abuse his wireless
> system.

Please read my response to Bob regarding router ownership.

"Quaoar" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message

> Schizoid Man wrote:
> > I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I
> > used 128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.
> >
> > My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a
> > good time to upgrade to Windows XP.
> >
> > I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
> > However, (correctly) according to windows the router is
> > WEP-encrypted. But for some reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get
> > a Windows message saying that it has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key
> > and can only be a certain number of ascii characters.
> >
> > Any ideas?
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
> > Schiz
>
> Reset the router to factory: hold in the reset button for a minute.
> Connect to the router wirelessly without security, enter the WEP
> passphrase, and *copy the first generated key* to use on the computer.
> Alternatively, connect to the router by ethernet and copy the key.
>
> Q

The laptop I use at home is an old, clunky Dell machine that does not have a
ethernet card, so I couldn't directly plug it into one of the ethernet port
on the wireless router. I have temporarily circumvented the problem by
connecting a USB directly from the cable modem to the laptop.

I remember the password of the router and was trying to connect to the
192.168.1.1 address wirelessly but I couldn't.

So I am thinking of taking my office laptop home today and connecting to the
router by ethernet. If I am directly plugged into the router, will I be able
to access it?

Also, I thought the WEP encryption would prevent me from going online, but
will let me access the router. It does not let me do even that.

On another note, does WEP degrade performance? Are there any alternatives
anyone can recommend?

Thanks in advance.