Linksys BEFW11S4, v4 with firmware v1.50.14 may lock up if WEP phrase is too long

I think that this may be a problem, but I'm not sure and I don't want
to try it again to find out. I have the Linksys BEFW11S4 with
firmware v1.50.14. Everything was running fine. I was using a
changed SSID, 128-bit WEP, and MAC address filtering with no problems.
When I went to change the 128-bit WEP phrase today to generate a new
code, I went a little long with the phrase. After generating the new
code and saving my changes, I was not longer able to communicate with
the router at all. I changed the WEP code on my network card, no
luck. I even tried to communicate with the router via an ethernet
cable, but no luck. I tried using a statice IP address, but still
couldn't connect. I even tried to reset the router, but it won't
reset. I'm going to have to try and take it back to the store because
it seems that this may have trashed the firmware.

I don't know if this is the case and I don't know if my phrase was
longer than the allowed 31 characters (which I don't think it was, but
it was still a little long and I don't know why I did that), but all I
know is that was the only thing I changed and am now unable to
communicate with the router. So this is just a heads up. You
probably won't want to use an extremely long phrase to generate your
WEP code.

Ryan

I've been thinking about this problem. I'm still not going to try and
recreate it, but I think that it might not be a problem with the
phrase being over 31 characters because I don't think that I put in
more than 31, but still am not sure. But one thing that I did do
differently was that when I changed and generated that new WEP keyde
the last time, I had MAC Address Filtering on for the first time. I'm
thinking that there might be a problem with changing the WEP key while
having MAC Address Filtering turned on? Or maybe it's that in
conjunction with using too long of a WEP key phrase? Anyone crazy
enough to try to confirm this, or have had this happen to them as
well? ) Just thought I'd ask.

Well, if anyone has had this happen to them, please post if you have a
chance. I'm going to send this new thought to Linksys and see if they
have anything so say. Thanks.

Ryan


(E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed). com>...
> I think that this may be a problem, but I'm not sure and I don't want
> to try it again to find out. I have the Linksys BEFW11S4 with
> firmware v1.50.14. Everything was running fine. I was using a
> changed SSID, 128-bit WEP, and MAC address filtering with no problems.
> When I went to change the 128-bit WEP phrase today to generate a new
> code, I went a little long with the phrase. After generating the new
> code and saving my changes, I was not longer able to communicate with
> the router at all. I changed the WEP code on my network card, no
> luck. I even tried to communicate with the router via an ethernet
> cable, but no luck. I tried using a statice IP address, but still
> couldn't connect. I even tried to reset the router, but it won't
> reset. I'm going to have to try and take it back to the store because
> it seems that this may have trashed the firmware.
>
> I don't know if this is the case and I don't know if my phrase was
> longer than the allowed 31 characters (which I don't think it was, but
> it was still a little long and I don't know why I did that), but all I
> know is that was the only thing I changed and am now unable to
> communicate with the router. So this is just a heads up. You
> probably won't want to use an extremely long phrase to generate your
> WEP code.
>
> Ryan

Wow. Well I guess no one else has experienced this problem so far, or
not many people are using MAC Address Filtering. I wrote to Linksys
tech support and told them what happened and asked them if they had
seen this problem before. They have never written back. From all the
posts I've been reading on here, it sounded like people who wrote to
Linksys usually received a response, so I was pretty bummed that I
received none. I guess that means that it is a problem? Anyway, I'm
still not using MAC Address Filtering for now. Thanks.

Ryan Cabanas



(E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed) om>...
> I've been thinking about this problem. I'm still not going to try and
> recreate it, but I think that it might not be a problem with the
> phrase being over 31 characters because I don't think that I put in
> more than 31, but still am not sure. But one thing that I did do
> differently was that when I changed and generated that new WEP keyde
> the last time, I had MAC Address Filtering on for the first time. I'm
> thinking that there might be a problem with changing the WEP key while
> having MAC Address Filtering turned on? Or maybe it's that in
> conjunction with using too long of a WEP key phrase? Anyone crazy
> enough to try to confirm this, or have had this happen to them as
> well? ) Just thought I'd ask.
>
> Well, if anyone has had this happen to them, please post if you have a
> chance. I'm going to send this new thought to Linksys and see if they
> have anything so say. Thanks.
>
> Ryan
>
>
> (E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed). com>...
> > I think that this may be a problem, but I'm not sure and I don't want
> > to try it again to find out. I have the Linksys BEFW11S4 with
> > firmware v1.50.14. Everything was running fine. I was using a
> > changed SSID, 128-bit WEP, and MAC address filtering with no problems.
> > When I went to change the 128-bit WEP phrase today to generate a new
> > code, I went a little long with the phrase. After generating the new
> > code and saving my changes, I was not longer able to communicate with
> > the router at all. I changed the WEP code on my network card, no
> > luck. I even tried to communicate with the router via an ethernet
> > cable, but no luck. I tried using a statice IP address, but still
> > couldn't connect. I even tried to reset the router, but it won't
> > reset. I'm going to have to try and take it back to the store because
> > it seems that this may have trashed the firmware.
> >
> > I don't know if this is the case and I don't know if my phrase was
> > longer than the allowed 31 characters (which I don't think it was, but
> > it was still a little long and I don't know why I did that), but all I
> > know is that was the only thing I changed and am now unable to
> > communicate with the router. So this is just a heads up. You
> > probably won't want to use an extremely long phrase to generate your
> > WEP code.
> >
> > Ryan

Wow. Well I guess no one else has experienced this problem so far, or
not many people are using MAC Address Filtering. I wrote to Linksys
tech support and told them what happened and asked them if they had
seen this problem before. They have never written back. From all the
posts I've been reading on here, it sounded like people who wrote to
Linksys usually received a response, so I was pretty bummed that I
received none. I guess that means that it is a problem? Anyway, I'm
still not using MAC Address Filtering for now. Thanks.

Ryan Cabanas


(E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed) om>...
> I've been thinking about this problem. I'm still not going to try and
> recreate it, but I think that it might not be a problem with the
> phrase being over 31 characters because I don't think that I put in
> more than 31, but still am not sure. But one thing that I did do
> differently was that when I changed and generated that new WEP keyde
> the last time, I had MAC Address Filtering on for the first time. I'm
> thinking that there might be a problem with changing the WEP key while
> having MAC Address Filtering turned on? Or maybe it's that in
> conjunction with using too long of a WEP key phrase? Anyone crazy
> enough to try to confirm this, or have had this happen to them as
> well? ) Just thought I'd ask.
>
> Well, if anyone has had this happen to them, please post if you have a
> chance. I'm going to send this new thought to Linksys and see if they
> have anything so say. Thanks.
>
> Ryan
>
>
> (E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed). com>...
> > I think that this may be a problem, but I'm not sure and I don't want
> > to try it again to find out. I have the Linksys BEFW11S4 with
> > firmware v1.50.14. Everything was running fine. I was using a
> > changed SSID, 128-bit WEP, and MAC address filtering with no problems.
> > When I went to change the 128-bit WEP phrase today to generate a new
> > code, I went a little long with the phrase. After generating the new
> > code and saving my changes, I was not longer able to communicate with
> > the router at all. I changed the WEP code on my network card, no
> > luck. I even tried to communicate with the router via an ethernet
> > cable, but no luck. I tried using a statice IP address, but still
> > couldn't connect. I even tried to reset the router, but it won't
> > reset. I'm going to have to try and take it back to the store because
> > it seems that this may have trashed the firmware.
> >
> > I don't know if this is the case and I don't know if my phrase was
> > longer than the allowed 31 characters (which I don't think it was, but
> > it was still a little long and I don't know why I did that), but all I
> > know is that was the only thing I changed and am now unable to
> > communicate with the router. So this is just a heads up. You
> > probably won't want to use an extremely long phrase to generate your
> > WEP code.
> >
> > Ryan

Wow. Well I guess no one else has experienced this problem so far, or
not many people are using MAC Address Filtering. I wrote to Linksys
tech support and told them what happened and asked them if they had
seen this problem before. They have never written back. From all the
posts I've been reading on here, it sounded like people who wrote to
Linksys usually received a response, so I was pretty bummed that I
received none. I guess that means that it is a problem? Anyway, I'm
still not using MAC Address Filtering for now. Thanks.

Ryan Cabanas


(E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed) om>...
> I've been thinking about this problem. I'm still not going to try and
> recreate it, but I think that it might not be a problem with the
> phrase being over 31 characters because I don't think that I put in
> more than 31, but still am not sure. But one thing that I did do
> differently was that when I changed and generated that new WEP keyde
> the last time, I had MAC Address Filtering on for the first time. I'm
> thinking that there might be a problem with changing the WEP key while
> having MAC Address Filtering turned on? Or maybe it's that in
> conjunction with using too long of a WEP key phrase? Anyone crazy
> enough to try to confirm this, or have had this happen to them as
> well? ) Just thought I'd ask.
>
> Well, if anyone has had this happen to them, please post if you have a
> chance. I'm going to send this new thought to Linksys and see if they
> have anything so say. Thanks.
>
> Ryan
>
>
> (E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed). com>...
> > I think that this may be a problem, but I'm not sure and I don't want
> > to try it again to find out. I have the Linksys BEFW11S4 with
> > firmware v1.50.14. Everything was running fine. I was using a
> > changed SSID, 128-bit WEP, and MAC address filtering with no problems.
> > When I went to change the 128-bit WEP phrase today to generate a new
> > code, I went a little long with the phrase. After generating the new
> > code and saving my changes, I was not longer able to communicate with
> > the router at all. I changed the WEP code on my network card, no
> > luck. I even tried to communicate with the router via an ethernet
> > cable, but no luck. I tried using a statice IP address, but still
> > couldn't connect. I even tried to reset the router, but it won't
> > reset. I'm going to have to try and take it back to the store because
> > it seems that this may have trashed the firmware.
> >
> > I don't know if this is the case and I don't know if my phrase was
> > longer than the allowed 31 characters (which I don't think it was, but
> > it was still a little long and I don't know why I did that), but all I
> > know is that was the only thing I changed and am now unable to
> > communicate with the router. So this is just a heads up. You
> > probably won't want to use an extremely long phrase to generate your
> > WEP code.
> >
> > Ryan

On 4 Aug 2004 00:58:17 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas)
wrote:

>I think that this may be a problem, but I'm not sure and I don't want
>to try it again to find out. I have the Linksys BEFW11S4 with
>firmware v1.50.14. Everything was running fine. I was using a
>changed SSID, 128-bit WEP, and MAC address filtering with no problems.
> When I went to change the 128-bit WEP phrase today to generate a new
>code, I went a little long with the phrase. After generating the new
>code and saving my changes, I was not longer able to communicate with
>the router at all. I changed the WEP code on my network card, no
>luck. I even tried to communicate with the router via an ethernet
>cable, but no luck. I tried using a statice IP address, but still
>couldn't connect. I even tried to reset the router, but it won't
>reset. I'm going to have to try and take it back to the store because
>it seems that this may have trashed the firmware.
>
>I don't know if this is the case and I don't know if my phrase was
>longer than the allowed 31 characters (which I don't think it was, but
>it was still a little long and I don't know why I did that), but all I
>know is that was the only thing I changed and am now unable to
>communicate with the router. So this is just a heads up. You
>probably won't want to use an extremely long phrase to generate your
>WEP code.
>
>Ryan

31 characters? Is that ASCII characters?

Converting from ASCII to Hex yields keys as:
ASCII Hex Bits
key key WEP
5 10 64
13 26 128
16 32 152
29 58 256

If you managed to type in 31 ASCII characters, the generated WEP key
would be much longer than 128 bits. I guess the real bug is that it
allowed you to type in an excessively long WEP key.

I have a BEFW11S4v4 and 1.50.14 firmware and can see if I can
duplicate the problem. However, I'm not going to risk it now. I'll
try it this weekend.

Incidentally, there may also be a problem with the maximum SSID
length. The spec demands 32 ASCII charcaters maximum, but a few
routers will only take 31 because the last character is set to 0x0
string delimiter.



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

"Ryan Cabanas" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> Wow. Well I guess no one else has experienced this problem so far, or
> not many people are using MAC Address Filtering. I wrote to Linksys
> tech support and told them what happened and asked them if they had
> seen this problem before. They have never written back. From all the
> posts I've been reading on here, it sounded like people who wrote to
> Linksys usually received a response, so I was pretty bummed that I
> received none. I guess that means that it is a problem? Anyway, I'm
> still not using MAC Address Filtering for now. Thanks.
>
> Ryan Cabanas
>
>
> (E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas) wrote in message
news:<(E-Mail Removed) om>...
> > I've been thinking about this problem. I'm still not going to try and
> > recreate it, but I think that it might not be a problem with the
> > phrase being over 31 characters because I don't think that I put in
> > more than 31, but still am not sure. But one thing that I did do
> > differently was that when I changed and generated that new WEP keyde
> > the last time, I had MAC Address Filtering on for the first time. I'm
> > thinking that there might be a problem with changing the WEP key while
> > having MAC Address Filtering turned on? Or maybe it's that in
> > conjunction with using too long of a WEP key phrase? Anyone crazy
> > enough to try to confirm this, or have had this happen to them as
> > well? ) Just thought I'd ask.
> >
> > Well, if anyone has had this happen to them, please post if you have a
> > chance. I'm going to send this new thought to Linksys and see if they
> > have anything so say. Thanks.
> >
> > Ryan
> >
> >
> > (E-Mail Removed) (Ryan Cabanas) wrote in message
news:<(E-Mail Removed). com>...
> > > I think that this may be a problem, but I'm not sure and I don't want
> > > to try it again to find out. I have the Linksys BEFW11S4 with
> > > firmware v1.50.14. Everything was running fine. I was using a
> > > changed SSID, 128-bit WEP, and MAC address filtering with no problems.
> > > When I went to change the 128-bit WEP phrase today to generate a new
> > > code, I went a little long with the phrase. After generating the new
> > > code and saving my changes, I was not longer able to communicate with
> > > the router at all. I changed the WEP code on my network card, no
> > > luck. I even tried to communicate with the router via an ethernet
> > > cable, but no luck. I tried using a statice IP address, but still
> > > couldn't connect. I even tried to reset the router, but it won't
> > > reset. I'm going to have to try and take it back to the store because
> > > it seems that this may have trashed the firmware.
> > >
> > > I don't know if this is the case and I don't know if my phrase was
> > > longer than the allowed 31 characters (which I don't think it was, but
> > > it was still a little long and I don't know why I did that), but all I
> > > know is that was the only thing I changed and am now unable to
> > > communicate with the router. So this is just a heads up. You
> > > probably won't want to use an extremely long phrase to generate your
> > > WEP code.
> > >
> > > Ryan

Not clear how MAC address filtering fits into a WEP phrase length problem.
Suggest you try them one at a time and see where your real problem.

You might not have gotten a response back as they could not decipher your
problem.

--
Bob Alston



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.736 / Virus Database: 490 - Release Date: 8/9/2004

Ryan Cabanas wrote:

> Wow. Well I guess no one else has experienced this problem so far, or
> not many people are using MAC Address Filtering.

No problems here using a BEFW11S4 and WPC11 card with MAC
address filtering enabled and 128-bit WEP enabled.
I suggest, before you take your hardware back to the store,
that you try disabling both MAC filtering and WEP and see if you
can get the network working in a more unprotected mode.

-- Ron

Hi Jeff,

No. Actually, I'm pretty sure that I didn't go beyond the 31 maximum
characters for my WEP key phrase. I thought that's what it was a
first, but I don't think my phrase was that long. The only thing that
I can think of that I did right before generating the new key was
turning on MAC Address Filtering. I did that, everything was fine,
then I changed the WEP key phrase. After doing that, I could not
longer communicate with the router at all. Not even via ethernet
cable with a static IP address. I couldn't even reset the router. It
was completely locked up. I don't know what happened, but I already
took the router back. I'm using 128-bit WEP, but I have MAC Address
Filtering turned off because I didn't want to chance a lockup again.
You're willing to try it this weekend? :-) Daring! Let me know if
you experience and trouble. Thanks.

Ryan Cabanas


Jeff Liebermann <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>. ..
> 31 characters? Is that ASCII characters?
>
> Converting from ASCII to Hex yields keys as:
> ASCII Hex Bits
> key key WEP
> 5 10 64
> 13 26 128
> 16 32 152
> 29 58 256
>
> If you managed to type in 31 ASCII characters, the generated WEP key
> would be much longer than 128 bits. I guess the real bug is that it
> allowed you to type in an excessively long WEP key.
>
> I have a BEFW11S4v4 and 1.50.14 firmware and can see if I can
> duplicate the problem. However, I'm not going to risk it now. I'll
> try it this weekend.
>
> Incidentally, there may also be a problem with the maximum SSID
> length. The spec demands 32 ASCII charcaters maximum, but a few
> routers will only take 31 because the last character is set to 0x0
> string delimiter.

Hi Ron,

Sorry, but I've already exchanged the hardware. I was not able to get
in to the router at all. Not even via ethernet cable with a static IP
address. I couldn't even reset the router. It wouldn't. It was
totally locked up. I'm using 128-bit WEP right now, but have MAC
Address Filtering turned off because I didn't want to risk a lockup
again. I don't know what happened. Strange. I even sent an email to
Linksys technical support, but they didn't email me back. Not even to
say, "Sorry, but we have not seen any problems like that." From what
I'd read from other posts, they sounded like they were pretty good
about responding, but I guess not any more?

Ryan Cabanas


Ronald Hands <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<da6dnTJKKs5yzIfcRVn-(E-Mail Removed)>...
> No problems here using a BEFW11S4 and WPC11 card with MAC
> address filtering enabled and 128-bit WEP enabled.
> I suggest, before you take your hardware back to the store,
> that you try disabling both MAC filtering and WEP and see if you
> can get the network working in a more unprotected mode.
>
> -- Ron