No wireless connection, what am I doing wrong?

In desperation I am posting this.....

I am running a Netgear DG834G wireless router/modem with the latest firmware
1.05.00 and a wireless PCMCIA card (US Robotics 802.11g), which up until
recently has been working fine.

I then decided to add a little security to my network and enable 128bit WEP
(yes I know its been cracked, but its better than nothing I suppose)

I also was advised (rightly or wrongly) to turn off my SSID beacons from the
wireless router, as this was supposed to make things a little harder to
access from a hacking point of view (I'm sure someone will tell me I have
been ill advised)...

My problem is, I cannot connect to the DG834G anymore with WEP enabled and
SSID beacons turned off.

I am confused because, according to my advisor, I shouldn't broadcast an
SSID, because of it being a security issue, but it seems that without it, I
am not able to connect at all.

I have set up the WEP key at both ends correctly, and it still fails to
access the thing.
One thing I have noticed is that sometimes it says 'connected' and when I
get the connection properties box up, there is no signal according to the
details, this connect be right, as the router is all of 8 feet away from my
laptop at the moment. Just once I did manage to get a connection, but then
after a reboot of the laptop, I was back to square one... no connection
again.

Also I notice that I have two lots of configuration settings, one built into
windows XP and a much nicer looking configuration utility that came with the
PCMCIA card on a CD with the drivers. Which one do I use? Which one would
you advise me to use?

Could anyone advise me where I am going wrong, as I'm sure once this lot is
configured, I should not have to mess around trying to get a connection each
time I switch on the laptop....

I really don't know what to do to make this lot work reliably now.

PS. I also have access permission set up by MAC address as well (at
theDG834G end) these settings worked fine before I enabled WEP, and remain
unchanged. I have double checked everything, but still I am getting nowhere.

Please help... Is WEP really this much trouble to get working? Am I
better off disabling WEP again and turning SSID back on?

Tony

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Tony <(E-Mail Removed)>
writes
>In desperation I am posting this.....
>
>I am running a Netgear DG834G wireless router/modem with the latest firmware
>1.05.00 and a wireless PCMCIA card (US Robotics 802.11g), which up until
>recently has been working fine.
>
>I then decided to add a little security to my network and enable 128bit WEP
>(yes I know its been cracked, but its better than nothing I suppose)
>
>I also was advised (rightly or wrongly) to turn off my SSID beacons from the
>wireless router, as this was supposed to make things a little harder to
>access from a hacking point of view (I'm sure someone will tell me I have
>been ill advised)...
>
>My problem is, I cannot connect to the DG834G anymore with WEP enabled and
>SSID beacons turned off.
>
>I am confused because, according to my advisor, I shouldn't broadcast an
>SSID, because of it being a security issue, but it seems that without it, I
>am not able to connect at all.
>
>I have set up the WEP key at both ends correctly, and it still fails to
>access the thing.
>One thing I have noticed is that sometimes it says 'connected' and when I
>get the connection properties box up, there is no signal according to the
>details, this connect be right, as the router is all of 8 feet away from my
>laptop at the moment. Just once I did manage to get a connection, but then
>after a reboot of the laptop, I was back to square one... no connection
>again.
>
>Also I notice that I have two lots of configuration settings, one built into
>windows XP and a much nicer looking configuration utility that came with the
>PCMCIA card on a CD with the drivers. Which one do I use? Which one would
>you advise me to use?
>
>Could anyone advise me where I am going wrong, as I'm sure once this lot is
>configured, I should not have to mess around trying to get a connection each
>time I switch on the laptop....
>
>I really don't know what to do to make this lot work reliably now.
>
>PS. I also have access permission set up by MAC address as well (at
>theDG834G end) these settings worked fine before I enabled WEP, and remain
>unchanged. I have double checked everything, but still I am getting nowhere.
>
>Please help... Is WEP really this much trouble to get working? Am I
>better off disabling WEP again and turning SSID back on?

There shouldn't be any problem running with no SSID, 128 bit WEP with
MAC filtering.

I'd suggest turning everything off and get back to a working system,
switch one thing on at a time and see which one breaks it.

Is it just one thing that stops the system working or does it have to be
a combination of things?

--
bof at bof dot me dot uk

"bof" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F$ZdFyFkZ+$(E-Mail Removed)...
> In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Tony <(E-Mail Removed)>
> writes
> >In desperation I am posting this.....
> >
> >I am running a Netgear DG834G wireless router/modem with the latest
firmware
> >1.05.00 and a wireless PCMCIA card (US Robotics 802.11g), which up until
> >recently has been working fine.
> >
> >I then decided to add a little security to my network and enable 128bit
WEP
> >(yes I know its been cracked, but its better than nothing I suppose)
> >
> >I also was advised (rightly or wrongly) to turn off my SSID beacons from
the
> >wireless router, as this was supposed to make things a little harder to
> >access from a hacking point of view (I'm sure someone will tell me I have
> >been ill advised)...
> >
> >My problem is, I cannot connect to the DG834G anymore with WEP enabled
and
> >SSID beacons turned off.
> >
> >I am confused because, according to my advisor, I shouldn't broadcast an
> >SSID, because of it being a security issue, but it seems that without it,
I
> >am not able to connect at all.
> >
> >I have set up the WEP key at both ends correctly, and it still fails to
> >access the thing.
> >One thing I have noticed is that sometimes it says 'connected' and when I
> >get the connection properties box up, there is no signal according to the
> >details, this connect be right, as the router is all of 8 feet away from
my
> >laptop at the moment. Just once I did manage to get a connection, but
then
> >after a reboot of the laptop, I was back to square one... no connection
> >again.
> >
> >Also I notice that I have two lots of configuration settings, one built
into
> >windows XP and a much nicer looking configuration utility that came with
the
> >PCMCIA card on a CD with the drivers. Which one do I use? Which one
would
> >you advise me to use?
> >
> >Could anyone advise me where I am going wrong, as I'm sure once this lot
is
> >configured, I should not have to mess around trying to get a connection
each
> >time I switch on the laptop....
> >
> >I really don't know what to do to make this lot work reliably now.
> >
> >PS. I also have access permission set up by MAC address as well (at
> >theDG834G end) these settings worked fine before I enabled WEP, and
remain
> >unchanged. I have double checked everything, but still I am getting
nowhere.
> >
> >Please help... Is WEP really this much trouble to get working? Am I
> >better off disabling WEP again and turning SSID back on?
>
> There shouldn't be any problem running with no SSID, 128 bit WEP with
> MAC filtering.
>
> I'd suggest turning everything off and get back to a working system,
> switch one thing on at a time and see which one breaks it.
>
> Is it just one thing that stops the system working or does it have to be
> a combination of things?
>
> --
> bof at bof dot me dot uk

Bof, thanks for the reply.

As soon as I turn on SSID beacons atn the router, it all works fine again!
and the laptop connects almost immediately and automatically. Is there
something I need to set up at the laptop side, so that it will connect to
the router when its not broadcasting SSID beacons?

I have set the 'Preferred SSID' setting in the laptop to the same name as
the SSID in the router.

I would ideally like to get it working without broadcasts, but if not...

How much of a risk is there in using SSID beacons? Is it much of a security
risk?

Tony

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Tony <(E-Mail Removed)>
writes
>
>"bof" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:F$ZdFyFkZ+$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Tony <(E-Mail Removed)>
>> writes
>> >In desperation I am posting this.....
>> >
>> >I am running a Netgear DG834G wireless router/modem with the latest
>firmware
>> >1.05.00 and a wireless PCMCIA card (US Robotics 802.11g), which up until
>> >recently has been working fine.
>> >
>> >I then decided to add a little security to my network and enable 128bit
>WEP
>> >(yes I know its been cracked, but its better than nothing I suppose)
>> >
>> >I also was advised (rightly or wrongly) to turn off my SSID beacons from
>the
>> >wireless router, as this was supposed to make things a little harder to
>> >access from a hacking point of view (I'm sure someone will tell me I have
>> >been ill advised)...
>> >
>> >My problem is, I cannot connect to the DG834G anymore with WEP enabled
>and
>> >SSID beacons turned off.
>> >
>> >I am confused because, according to my advisor, I shouldn't broadcast an
>> >SSID, because of it being a security issue, but it seems that without it,
>I
>> >am not able to connect at all.
>> >
>> >I have set up the WEP key at both ends correctly, and it still fails to
>> >access the thing.
>> >One thing I have noticed is that sometimes it says 'connected' and when I
>> >get the connection properties box up, there is no signal according to the
>> >details, this connect be right, as the router is all of 8 feet away from
>my
>> >laptop at the moment. Just once I did manage to get a connection, but
>then
>> >after a reboot of the laptop, I was back to square one... no connection
>> >again.
>> >
>> >Also I notice that I have two lots of configuration settings, one built
>into
>> >windows XP and a much nicer looking configuration utility that came with
>the
>> >PCMCIA card on a CD with the drivers. Which one do I use? Which one
>would
>> >you advise me to use?
>> >
>> >Could anyone advise me where I am going wrong, as I'm sure once this lot
>is
>> >configured, I should not have to mess around trying to get a connection
>each
>> >time I switch on the laptop....
>> >
>> >I really don't know what to do to make this lot work reliably now.
>> >
>> >PS. I also have access permission set up by MAC address as well (at
>> >theDG834G end) these settings worked fine before I enabled WEP, and
>remain
>> >unchanged. I have double checked everything, but still I am getting
>nowhere.
>> >
>> >Please help... Is WEP really this much trouble to get working? Am I
>> >better off disabling WEP again and turning SSID back on?
>>
>> There shouldn't be any problem running with no SSID, 128 bit WEP with
>> MAC filtering.
>>
>> I'd suggest turning everything off and get back to a working system,
>> switch one thing on at a time and see which one breaks it.
>>
>> Is it just one thing that stops the system working or does it have to be
>> a combination of things?
>>
>> --
>> bof at bof dot me dot uk
>
>Bof, thanks for the reply.
>
>As soon as I turn on SSID beacons atn the router, it all works fine again!
>and the laptop connects almost immediately and automatically.

Is this true irrespective of whether the WEP/MAC filtering are on, or
does it only occur if the WEP/MAC filtering are on?

> Is there
>something I need to set up at the laptop side, so that it will connect to
>the router when its not broadcasting SSID beacons?

Nope, you should just need to set the same SSID in the WAP and the
client.

>
>I have set the 'Preferred SSID' setting in the laptop to the same name as
>the SSID in the router.
>
>I would ideally like to get it working without broadcasts, but if not...
>
>How much of a risk is there in using SSID beacons? Is it much of a security
>risk?

AIUI it's not a big deal broadcasting SSID if you're using WEP and MAC
filtering, if someone can get past those then getting the SSID should be
relatively easy. Switching off SSID would give you a big improvement
over having no security at all, if you weren't using WEP/MAC filtering.



--
bof at bof dot me dot uk

"bof" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Tony <(E-Mail Removed)>
> writes
> >
> >"bof" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >news:F$ZdFyFkZ+$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Tony <(E-Mail Removed)>
> >> writes
> >> >In desperation I am posting this.....
> >> >
> >> >I am running a Netgear DG834G wireless router/modem with the latest
> >firmware
> >> >1.05.00 and a wireless PCMCIA card (US Robotics 802.11g), which up
until
> >> >recently has been working fine.
> >> >
> >> >I then decided to add a little security to my network and enable
128bit
> >WEP
> >> >(yes I know its been cracked, but its better than nothing I suppose)
> >> >
> >> >I also was advised (rightly or wrongly) to turn off my SSID beacons
from
> >the
> >> >wireless router, as this was supposed to make things a little harder
to
> >> >access from a hacking point of view (I'm sure someone will tell me I
have
> >> >been ill advised)...
> >> >
> >> >My problem is, I cannot connect to the DG834G anymore with WEP enabled
> >and
> >> >SSID beacons turned off.
> >> >
> >> >I am confused because, according to my advisor, I shouldn't broadcast
an
> >> >SSID, because of it being a security issue, but it seems that without
it,
> >I
> >> >am not able to connect at all.
> >> >
> >> >I have set up the WEP key at both ends correctly, and it still fails
to
> >> >access the thing.
> >> >One thing I have noticed is that sometimes it says 'connected' and
when I
> >> >get the connection properties box up, there is no signal according to
the
> >> >details, this connect be right, as the router is all of 8 feet away
from
> >my
> >> >laptop at the moment. Just once I did manage to get a connection, but
> >then
> >> >after a reboot of the laptop, I was back to square one... no
connection
> >> >again.
> >> >
> >> >Also I notice that I have two lots of configuration settings, one
built
> >into
> >> >windows XP and a much nicer looking configuration utility that came
with
> >the
> >> >PCMCIA card on a CD with the drivers. Which one do I use? Which one
> >would
> >> >you advise me to use?
> >> >
> >> >Could anyone advise me where I am going wrong, as I'm sure once this
lot
> >is
> >> >configured, I should not have to mess around trying to get a
connection
> >each
> >> >time I switch on the laptop....
> >> >
> >> >I really don't know what to do to make this lot work reliably now.
> >> >
> >> >PS. I also have access permission set up by MAC address as well (at
> >> >theDG834G end) these settings worked fine before I enabled WEP, and
> >remain
> >> >unchanged. I have double checked everything, but still I am getting
> >nowhere.
> >> >
> >> >Please help... Is WEP really this much trouble to get working? Am I
> >> >better off disabling WEP again and turning SSID back on?
> >>
> >> There shouldn't be any problem running with no SSID, 128 bit WEP with
> >> MAC filtering.
> >>
> >> I'd suggest turning everything off and get back to a working system,
> >> switch one thing on at a time and see which one breaks it.
> >>
> >> Is it just one thing that stops the system working or does it have to
be
> >> a combination of things?
> >>
> >> --
> >> bof at bof dot me dot uk
> >
> >Bof, thanks for the reply.
> >
> >As soon as I turn on SSID beacons atn the router, it all works fine
again!
> >and the laptop connects almost immediately and automatically.
>
> Is this true irrespective of whether the WEP/MAC filtering are on, or
> does it only occur if the WEP/MAC filtering are on?
>
> > Is there
> >something I need to set up at the laptop side, so that it will connect to
> >the router when its not broadcasting SSID beacons?
>
> Nope, you should just need to set the same SSID in the WAP and the
> client.
>
> >
> >I have set the 'Preferred SSID' setting in the laptop to the same name as
> >the SSID in the router.
> >
> >I would ideally like to get it working without broadcasts, but if not...
> >
> >How much of a risk is there in using SSID beacons? Is it much of a
security
> >risk?
>
> AIUI it's not a big deal broadcasting SSID if you're using WEP and MAC
> filtering, if someone can get past those then getting the SSID should be
> relatively easy. Switching off SSID would give you a big improvement
> over having no security at all, if you weren't using WEP/MAC filtering.
>
>
>
> --
> bof at bof dot me dot uk


The lack of SSID beacons on a wireless network cause problems for many
people. If you don't enable SSID, then many wireless cards won't connect to
the access point. 802.11 is a pretty crap system and has many problems.
This is just one of them. Your not on your own, I'm sure there are plenty
of others who would have the same problem if they disabled SSID.

Your best bet is to:

Enable SSID
Enable WEP (128bit or 256bit if possible)
Use an uncommon IP for your network (not 196.168.0 etc)
Turn off DHCP server (that will mean anyone trying to gain access would have
to know the IP, as DHCP wouldn't automatically give them an IP address)
Configure all the IP's of the wireless clients manually (you`ll have to when
DHCP is switched off)
Add to this a regular change of wep key, and that will keep any likely
hackers out of your network.

James

> Use an uncommon IP for your network (not 196.168.0 etc)
>
> James

Not a very sensible idea that. Private address's are there for a reason.
If a packet from one gets out to the internet, the network routers will
reject it. You should NOT start making up your own IP address on anything
connected to the internet, SOMEONE SOMEWHERE will have it and its going to
cause chaos if a packet with that address gets out.

Dave

--

Some people use windows, others have a life.

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Dave Stanton
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>
>> Use an uncommon IP for your network (not 196.168.0 etc)
>>
>> James
>
>Not a very sensible idea that. Private address's are there for a reason.
>If a packet from one gets out to the internet, the network routers will
>reject it. You should NOT start making up your own IP address on anything
>connected to the internet, SOMEONE SOMEWHERE will have it and its going to
>cause chaos if a packet with that address gets out.
>
True.

But 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 is not the only private IP address
range.

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 and 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 are also
private address ranges and give plenty of scope for choosing an uncommon
address range.

--
Wade Oram
Reply address valid for 1 calendar month from date of posting.

> But 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 is not the only private IP address
> range.
>
> 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 and 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 are also
> private address ranges and give plenty of scope for choosing an uncommon
> address range.

Totaly agree, but it read ( to me at least) as tho you were advocating
making up a IP range. I see that he's using MAC auth as well so he should
be fairly secure.

Dave

--

Some people use windows, others have a life.