Netgear WG511, DG384G and WPA security

Anyone help? I have the above wireless router and Cardbus/PCMCIA wireless
adapter but I can only get a connection between the two if I turn _all_
security off!

With WPA on, the Windows XP wireless tool shows no networks, the Netgear one
shows one Network (mine!) with signal level 78% but it won't connect either.

I've checked the settings (correct SSID, WPA pass phrases etc) and I'm
running the latest software (the latest beta on the Netgear site for the
router).

This doesn't seem to be a range issue because I tried walking right up to
the router and still could not get a connection!

So, any ideas? Any diagnostics that I can run? I have tried various pass
phrases but they all seem to give the same results - no connection!

Cheers,
Paul DS.

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Paul D.Smith wrote:
> Anyone help? I have the above wireless router and Cardbus/PCMCIA wireless
> adapter but I can only get a connection between the two if I turn _all_
> security off!
>
> With WPA on, the Windows XP wireless tool shows no networks, the Netgear one
> shows one Network (mine!) with signal level 78% but it won't connect either.
>
> I've checked the settings (correct SSID, WPA pass phrases etc) and I'm
> running the latest software (the latest beta on the Netgear site for the
> router).
>
> This doesn't seem to be a range issue because I tried walking right up to
> the router and still could not get a connection!
>
> So, any ideas? Any diagnostics that I can run? I have tried various pass
> phrases but they all seem to give the same results - no connection!
>
> Cheers,
> Paul DS.
>
You don't mention which version of WG511 ,Ver2 supports WPA but the
original didn't so if you are using the XP Client s/ware you may be able
to enter a "WPA Key" but it will not work.
Assuming you have a V2 have you tried using just Hex characters
instead of a passphrase ,I have had a card where this was the only way
to get it to work, and start with say 10 characters to see if it works
then build up the number.
As an odd thought your router isn't trying to use a "Radius Server" ?

NBT

"Paul D.Smith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Anyone help? I have the above wireless router and Cardbus/PCMCIA wireless
>adapter but I can only get a connection between the two if I turn _all_
>security off!
>
>With WPA on, the Windows XP wireless tool shows no networks, the Netgear one
>shows one Network (mine!) with signal level 78% but it won't connect either.
>
>I've checked the settings (correct SSID, WPA pass phrases etc) and I'm
>running the latest software (the latest beta on the Netgear site for the
>router).
>
>This doesn't seem to be a range issue because I tried walking right up to
>the router and still could not get a connection!
>
>So, any ideas? Any diagnostics that I can run? I have tried various pass
>phrases but they all seem to give the same results - no connection!
>
>Cheers,
>Paul DS.

Make sure you are using WPA/PSK specifically, with specific encryption
which will probably be TKIP.

At both ends of course.

Also start off with SSID broadcast NOT disabled.

Lots of people can't get WPA/PSK going.

Peter.
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E-mail replies to (E-Mail Removed) but remove the X and the Y.

You don't mention which version of WG511 ,Ver2 supports WPA but the
> original didn't so if you are using the XP Client s/ware you may be able
> to enter a "WPA Key" but it will not work.
> Assuming you have a V2 have you tried using just Hex characters
> instead of a passphrase ,I have had a card where this was the only way
> to get it to work, and start with say 10 characters to see if it works
> then build up the number.
> As an odd thought your router isn't trying to use a "Radius Server" ?
>
> NBT

WG511, v2.
Router not trying (or at least not configured to!) use a RADIUS server.
When you say use hex, do you mean instead of the passphrase or a passphrase
which is all hex?
Will try a short phrase and work up. But why should a shorter phrase make
any difference?

Paul DS

Questions below...

>
> Make sure you are using WPA/PSK specifically, with specific encryption
> which will probably be TKIP.

Didn't spot a specific encryption, but I'll check.

>
> At both ends of course.
>
> Also start off with SSID broadcast NOT disabled.
>

Why should enabling SSID make a difference?

> Lots of people can't get WPA/PSK going.

Is this because of user-lack-of-IQ or a basic failure of Netgear to
implement it sensibly?

>
> Peter.
> --
> Return address is invalid to help stop junk mail.
> E-mail replies to (E-Mail Removed) but remove the X and the Y.

Cheers,
Paul DS.

"Paul D.Smith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Why should enabling SSID make a difference?

Because that's the default, and a lot of today's cheap IT gear doesn't
get tested properly

>> Lots of people can't get WPA/PSK going.
>
>Is this because of user-lack-of-IQ or a basic failure of Netgear to
>implement it sensibly?

Lack of compatibility, lack of pre-release product testing, etc. I
have got it working on about 50% of the stuff I have, and of the 50%
that doesn't work, more than half "should just work".



Peter.
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Return address is invalid to help stop junk mail.
E-mail replies to (E-Mail Removed) but remove the X and the Y.

Paul D.Smith wrote:
8><............................................... ...
>
> WG511, v2.
> Router not trying (or at least not configured to!) use a RADIUS server.
> When you say use hex, do you mean instead of the passphrase or a passphrase
> which is all hex?

A passphrase which is all hex

> Will try a short phrase and work up. But why should a shorter phrase make
> any difference?

It shouldn't but on my present set up ,which uses diff manfr's, I have
found that if I use 60 character key and I am 10 metres away from router
it frequently loses connection whereas a 40 character key remains
connected.I can only assume my router is not particularly fast at
processing data and I am not sure how common this is.

>
> Paul DS
>
>

> It shouldn't but on my present set up ,which uses diff manfr's, I have
> found that if I use 60 character key and I am 10 metres away from router
> it frequently loses connection whereas a 40 character key remains
> connected.I can only assume my router is not particularly fast at
> processing data and I am not sure how common this is.

Umm. That seems odd. I would have thought that the passphrase would have
made little difference after the initial connecting exchange but thanks for
the suggestion.

Paul DS.

"Paul D.Smith" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:426dfa9c$0$292$(E-Mail Removed) t...
> Anyone help? I have the above wireless router and Cardbus/PCMCIA wireless
> adapter but I can only get a connection between the two if I turn _all_
> security off!
>
> With WPA on, the Windows XP wireless tool shows no networks, the Netgear
> one
> shows one Network (mine!) with signal level 78% but it won't connect
> either.
>
> I've checked the settings (correct SSID, WPA pass phrases etc) and I'm
> running the latest software (the latest beta on the Netgear site for the
> router).
>
> This doesn't seem to be a range issue because I tried walking right up to
> the router and still could not get a connection!
>
> So, any ideas? Any diagnostics that I can run? I have tried various pass
> phrases but they all seem to give the same results - no connection!
>
> Cheers,
> Paul DS.

I have two laptops with WG511 (V1) cards and another with a Broadcom
mini-PCI b/g card. They all connect to my DG834G router (latest beta
firmware) using WPA-PSK and TKIP encryption. I use Windows Zero
Configuration to manage my wireless connections, rather than the Netgear
utility and it works absolutely fine for me on all laptops. But it also
works OK with the Netgear utility as well. I just like to minimise the
amount of extra junk running on my machine so I favour the built-in OS
solution to an extra Netgear app.

I do broadcast SSID and also have MAC filtering with locked IP addresses. My
WPA key is 35 characters of mixed case letters and numerics. I've never had
a problem getting my connections to work.

Sorry, that's no real help, except to say it really should work. Perhaps
there is a clue in the key length or maybe the (special?) characters used.

> Sorry, that's no real help, except to say it really should work. Perhaps
> there is a clue in the key length or maybe the (special?) characters used.
>
>

Thanks for the info. One of the most interesting suggestions was to use a
shorter passphrase. Being a security nut/worrier, I created a random mixed
alphanumeric phrase of 63 characters which may be my problem!

Paul DS.