Netgear WGXB102 connection problems when using WEP

Hi,

I have a WGXB102 and an XE102 set up on my network. I have DLink
DI-524 wireless network that is working fine with WEP encryption on
channel's 1 and 11. I only use static IP (no DHCP server on my
network) I've worked through the install procedure and here's what I
found:

1) Setup using default NETGEAR SSID and connected successfuly using
192.168.0.210 addresses for my adapter
2) Changed the IP/gateway on my WGXB102 to match my home network
settings (I gave it a fresh static IP). I confirmed the subnetmask was
okay. I left the channel at 11, the same as my DLink. I did NOT change
the SSID from NETGEAR, nor did I turn on WEP. I was able to connect to
the internet through the NETGEAR SSID. Fine so far.
3) Changed the WGX SSID to match my home network SSID so I could roam.
I also added WEP encryption using the same ASCII key as as my home
network and I verified the HEX encryption keys that were generated on
the Dlink match the WGX. Anyways, I could then connect to my wireless
SSID and I saw _some_ intial wireless connection light activity on the
WGX. However, I couldn't access anything, no internet, no local IP,
not even the WGX itself.

I unplugged WGX and volia, I could access my wireless SSID. I tried
chaning the channel to 1 on my Dlink. Wireless still worked until I
plugged the WGX again. Then, same problem. I'm still running with the
same firmware as came out of the box.

Any help is appreciated. I'm running a collection of WinXP/2000/RedHat
Linux on my network.

P.

"Peter" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>Hi,
>
>I have a WGXB102 and an XE102 set up on my network. I have DLink
>DI-524 wireless network that is working fine with WEP encryption on
>channel's 1 and 11. I only use static IP (no DHCP server on my
>network) I've worked through the install procedure and here's what I
>found:
>
>1) Setup using default NETGEAR SSID and connected successfuly using
>192.168.0.210 addresses for my adapter
>2) Changed the IP/gateway on my WGXB102 to match my home network
>settings (I gave it a fresh static IP). I confirmed the subnetmask was
>okay. I left the channel at 11, the same as my DLink. I did NOT change
>the SSID from NETGEAR, nor did I turn on WEP. I was able to connect to
>the internet through the NETGEAR SSID. Fine so far.
>3) Changed the WGX SSID to match my home network SSID so I could roam.
>I also added WEP encryption using the same ASCII key as as my home
>network and I verified the HEX encryption keys that were generated on
>the Dlink match the WGX. Anyways, I could then connect to my wireless
>SSID and I saw _some_ intial wireless connection light activity on the
>WGX. However, I couldn't access anything, no internet, no local IP,
>not even the WGX itself.
>
>I unplugged WGX and volia, I could access my wireless SSID. I tried
>chaning the channel to 1 on my Dlink. Wireless still worked until I
>plugged the WGX again. Then, same problem. I'm still running with the
>same firmware as came out of the box.
>
>Any help is appreciated. I'm running a collection of WinXP/2000/RedHat
>Linux on my network.

Easy. Don't use the ASCII WEP key. Use the longer Hex key instead.
There are incompatibities in the ASCII to Hex conversion with
different makers and models of wireless hardware. Details if you want
them.

Incidentally, you really should be using WPA or WPA2 if possible
instead of WEP. WEP is fairly easily cracked.


--
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

On Mar 11, 10:57 pm, Jeff Liebermann <j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us>
wrote:
> "Peter" <peter.benni...@gmail.com> hath wroth:
>
>
>
>
>
> >Hi,
>
> >I have a WGXB102 and an XE102 set up on my network. I have DLink
> >DI-524 wireless network that is working fine with WEP encryption on
> >channel's 1 and 11. I only use static IP (no DHCP server on my
> >network) I've worked through the install procedure and here's what I
> >found:
>
> >1) Setup using default NETGEAR SSID and connected successfuly using
> >192.168.0.210 addresses for my adapter
> >2) Changed the IP/gateway on my WGXB102 to match my home network
> >settings (I gave it a fresh static IP). I confirmed the subnetmask was
> >okay. I left the channel at 11, the same as my DLink. I did NOT change
> >the SSID from NETGEAR, nor did I turn on WEP. I was able to connect to
> >the internet through the NETGEAR SSID. Fine so far.
> >3) Changed the WGX SSID to match my home network SSID so I could roam.
> >I also added WEP encryption using the same ASCII key as as my home
> >network and I verified the HEX encryption keys that were generated on
> >the Dlink match the WGX. Anyways, I could then connect to my wireless
> >SSID and I saw _some_ intial wireless connection light activity on the
> >WGX. However, I couldn't access anything, no internet, no local IP,
> >not even the WGX itself.
>
> >I unplugged WGX and volia, I could access my wireless SSID. I tried
> >chaning the channel to 1 on my Dlink. Wireless still worked until I
> >plugged the WGX again. Then, same problem. I'm still running with the
> >same firmware as came out of the box.
>
> >Any help is appreciated. I'm running a collection of WinXP/2000/RedHat
> >Linux on my network.
>
> Easy. Don't use the ASCII WEP key. Use the longer Hex key instead.
> There are incompatibities in the ASCII to Hex conversion with
> different makers and models of wireless hardware. Details if you want
> them.
>
> Incidentally, you really should be using WPA or WPA2 if possible
> instead of WEP. WEP is fairly easily cracked.
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks Jeff ... yeah, I know about poor WEP encryption. I haven't got
around to switching to WPA, so I generally resort to much poorer
layered security measures (ie SSID broadcasting turned off, don't use
DHCP, don't use an 'easily' guessed sub net (e.g. 192.168.1.x, MAC
address filtering on everything). I know, all of these are easily
circumvented if someone actively monitors my network traffic ... gosh,
I'm losing track of what I want to solve here

I did enter the hex key for both my dlink and WGX, but I'm embarrassed
to say I haven't figure out how to enter the HEX key on my XP
clients. When I just had my Dlink, the window's managed wireless
network key entry field accepted my ASCII string just fine. Can I
just slam in the HEX string in the same place?

Thanks,

P.

"Peter" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>Thanks Jeff ... yeah, I know about poor WEP encryption. I haven't got
>around to switching to WPA, so I generally resort to much poorer
>layered security measures (ie SSID broadcasting turned off, don't use
>DHCP, don't use an 'easily' guessed sub net (e.g. 192.168.1.x, MAC
>address filtering on everything). I know, all of these are easily
>circumvented if someone actively monitors my network traffic ... gosh,
>I'm losing track of what I want to solve here

I use an outline program to keep my things to do list organized.
Hierarchial organization is much better than a "flat" list. For
example, this would look like:

199. WGXB102 connect problem:
a. check settings
b. verify with other computers.
c. RTFM.
d. disarm security measures and start from scratch.
e. send large cheque to Jeff L.
f. switch to WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK.

I don't have a specific program to recommend. I just use the outline
features in MS Word (various versions) which is fairly portable. This
allows me to update my things to do list while at customers. It also
works on my PDA (Verizon XV6700).

>I did enter the hex key for both my dlink and WGX, but I'm embarrassed
>to say I haven't figure out how to enter the HEX key on my XP
>clients.

Just enter the value in Hex without any 0x or such prefix. Windoze
Wireless Zero Config uses the tried and true "trial and error"
approach to key management. It just goes through and tries all the
various combination and conversions that might be applicable. It
determines if it's Hex or ASCII by the key length.
64bit 128bit
ASCII 5 10 ascii chars
Hex 13 26 hex chars
Anything that's not 5, 10, 13, or 26 characters long, is rejected.

>When I just had my Dlink, the window's managed wireless
>network key entry field accepted my ASCII string just fine. Can I
>just slam in the HEX string in the same place?

For Windoze Wireless Zero Config, yes. It's smart enough to figure
out the type of key and the required length.

For additional entertainment value, download the Perl script at:
<http://www.wigle.net/jigle/wep.pl>
If you have Perl installed, you will see 3 different ASCII to Hex
conversions found in various wireless managers. I think there's one
more, but I don't wanna burn the time finding it. MS only supports
one of these (and I forgot which one).

--
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

On Mar 12, 12:11 pm, Jeff Liebermann <j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us>
wrote:
> "Peter" <peter.benni...@gmail.com> hath wroth:
>
> >Thanks Jeff ... yeah, I know about poor WEP encryption. I haven't got
> >around to switching to WPA, so I generally resort to much poorer
> >layered security measures (ie SSID broadcasting turned off, don't use
> >DHCP, don't use an 'easily' guessed sub net (e.g. 192.168.1.x, MAC
> >address filtering on everything). I know, all of these are easily
> >circumvented if someone actively monitors my network traffic ... gosh,
> >I'm losing track of what I want to solve here
>
> I use an outline program to keep my things to do list organized.
> Hierarchial organization is much better than a "flat" list. For
> example, this would look like:
>
> 199. WGXB102 connect problem:
> a. check settings
> b. verify with other computers.
> c. RTFM.
> d. disarm security measures and start from scratch.
> e. send large cheque to Jeff L.
> f. switch to WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK.
>
> I don't have a specific program to recommend. I just use the outline
> features in MS Word (various versions) which is fairly portable. This
> allows me to update my things to do list while at customers. It also
> works on my PDA (Verizon XV6700).
>
> >I did enter the hex key for both my dlink and WGX, but I'm embarrassed
> >to say I haven't figure out how to enter the HEX key on my XP
> >clients.
>
> Just enter the value in Hex without any 0x or such prefix. Windoze
> Wireless Zero Config uses the tried and true "trial and error"
> approach to key management. It just goes through and tries all the
> various combination and conversions that might be applicable. It
> determines if it's Hex or ASCII by the key length.
> 64bit 128bit
> ASCII 5 10 ascii chars
> Hex 13 26 hex chars
> Anything that's not 5, 10, 13, or 26 characters long, is rejected.
>
> >When I just had my Dlink, the window's managed wireless
> >network key entry field accepted my ASCII string just fine. Can I
> >just slam in the HEX string in the same place?
>
> For Windoze Wireless Zero Config, yes. It's smart enough to figure
> out the type of key and the required length.
>
> For additional entertainment value, download the Perl script at:
> <http://www.wigle.net/jigle/wep.pl>
> If you have Perl installed, you will see 3 different ASCII to Hex
> conversions found in various wireless managers. I think there's one
> more, but I don't wanna burn the time finding it. MS only supports
> one of these (and I forgot which one).
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558


So, using the HEX key worked (for one laptop). My other laptop
connected okay (verified in the WGX connection screen), but I still
couldn't access any network/internet resources. I validated the key
in the client was the same in the second laptop. MAC filtering is my
other thing to validate, but again, it works fine when I connect to my
Dlink and have the WGX unplugged and there is no MAC filtering on the
WGX. I guess WPA is my next step.

On 13 Mar 2007 08:32:34 -0700, "Peter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
in <(E-Mail Removed) .com>:

>So, using the HEX key worked (for one laptop). My other laptop
>connected okay (verified in the WGX connection screen), but I still
>couldn't access any network/internet resources. I validated the key
>in the client was the same in the second laptop. MAC filtering is my
>other thing to validate, but again, it works fine when I connect to my
>Dlink and have the WGX unplugged and there is no MAC filtering on the
>WGX. I guess WPA is my next step.

Use "IPCONFIG /ALL" in a command window once connected to verify
settings. If you want help, post the _exact_ output here.
--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

"Peter" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>So, using the HEX key worked (for one laptop).

See, that was easy.

>My other laptop
>connected okay (verified in the WGX connection screen), but I still
>couldn't access any network/internet resources.

Nope. You get a connection even with a bad WEP key. In order to
exchange encryption keys, the client must first connect to the access
point. Just because it shows a connection, doesn't mean that the key
exchange was successful. However, it's not like this on all routers.
Most of the older ones would show attempted connections, failed
connections, dubious connections, and just plain garbage connections.
These would eventually expire and disappear. On later models, such as
my Buffalo WHR-HP-G54, it appears momentarily, and then disappears if
it fails. I'm not sure I like it either way (clutter versus
obscurity).

>I validated the key
>in the client was the same in the second laptop.

Pardon me for being suspicious. I lost count of the number of times I
managed to mangle characters in an encryption key, especially when
typing bling.

>MAC filtering is my
>other thing to validate, but again, it works fine when I connect to my
>Dlink and have the WGX unplugged and there is no MAC filtering on the
>WGX. I guess WPA is my next step.

WPA should have been your *FIRST* step. WEP is simply not secure
enough to be considered useful. It also suffers from some
implimentation oddities, one of which you're currently experiencing.
Give up on WEP and switch to WPA please.

--
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

On Mar 13, 1:28 pm, Jeff Liebermann <j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us>
wrote:
> "Peter" <peter.benni...@gmail.com> hath wroth:
>
> >So, using the HEX key worked (for one laptop).
>
> See, that was easy.
>
> >My other laptop
> >connected okay (verified in the WGX connection screen), but I still
> >couldn't access any network/internet resources.
>
> Nope. You get a connection even with a bad WEP key. In order to
> exchange encryption keys, the client must first connect to the access
> point. Just because it shows a connection, doesn't mean that the key
> exchange was successful. However, it's not like this on all routers.
> Most of the older ones would show attempted connections, failed
> connections, dubious connections, and just plain garbage connections.
> These would eventually expire and disappear. On later models, such as
> my Buffalo WHR-HP-G54, it appears momentarily, and then disappears if
> it fails. I'm not sure I like it either way (clutter versus
> obscurity).
>

Yeah, I saw that 'winking out' behaviour too during one test.

> >I validated the key
> >in the client was the same in the second laptop.
>
> Pardon me for being suspicious. I lost count of the number of times I
> managed to mangle characters in an encryption key, especially when
> typing bling.
>

I cut'n'pasted the HEX straight from my Dlink config window (twice) so
I think I've got that covered, but it'll be in my test cases tonight.

> >MAC filtering is my
> >other thing to validate, but again, it works fine when I connect to my
> >Dlink and have the WGX unplugged and there is no MAC filtering on the
> >WGX. I guess WPA is my next step.
>
> WPA should have been your *FIRST* step. WEP is simply not secure
> enough to be considered useful. It also suffers from some
> implimentation oddities, one of which you're currently experiencing.
> Give up on WEP and switch to WPA please.
>

Oh I will, after I give WEP just _one_ more try ... thanks for your
efforts to date. Your advice has been 100% responsible for the success
I've had to date.


> --
> Jeff Liebermann j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Mar 13, 12:56 pm, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:
> On 13 Mar 2007 08:32:34 -0700, "Peter" <peter.benni...@gmail.com> wrote
> in <1173799953.889178.165...@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups .com>:
>
> >So, using the HEX key worked (for one laptop). My other laptop
> >connected okay (verified in the WGX connection screen), but I still
> >couldn't access any network/internet resources. I validated the key
> >in the client was the same in the second laptop. MAC filtering is my
> >other thing to validate, but again, it works fine when I connect to my
> >Dlink and have the WGX unplugged and there is no MAC filtering on the
> >WGX. I guess WPA is my next step.
>
> Use "IPCONFIG /ALL" in a command window once connected to verify
> settings. If you want help, post the _exact_ output here.
> --
> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>


Will do ... I checked that the 'support' view of my wireless
connections matched my intended network settings, but I realize you'll
probably want to see my other network connections in case there are
other problems.

On 13 Mar 2007 11:35:51 -0700, "Peter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
in <(E-Mail Removed) .com>:

>On Mar 13, 1:28 pm, Jeff Liebermann <j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us>
>wrote:

>> WPA should have been your *FIRST* step. WEP is simply not secure
>> enough to be considered useful. It also suffers from some
>> implimentation oddities, one of which you're currently experiencing.
>> Give up on WEP and switch to WPA please.
>
>Oh I will, after I give WEP just _one_ more try ...

Why waste time on something that's not useful?!

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>