Problems with WPA - WEP works fine

Hi

I'm having problems getting WPA to work on my wireless network. I've got 64bit WEP
working fine, but I can't get the wireless card in my laptop to connect if I set up
WPA.

I think I've set everything up as it should be, using WPA-PSK and TKIP encryption,
but it simply refuses to work. I've double checked the passphrase and it is the same
in both the router and the laptop.

I've tried the WinXP config and the config software that came with the card in the
laptop.

The router is a Linksys WAG54G, and the wireless card in the laptop is a WPC54G v1.2
The laptop is running WinXP Home SP2.

I'm wondering whether the laptop card doesn't support WPA, even though the latest
software I got from the Linksys web site gives the WPA option. The original software
I got with the card only had WEP support.

Now WEP is better than nothing, and in the rural area where I live someone would have
to park on my driveway to get a signal, so security isn't a major worry, but I'd like
to get it working if at all possible.

I'm hoping some of the knowledgeable folks in here ay be able to point me in the
right direction

TIA

--

Andrew Sayers

"Andrew Sayers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi
>
> I'm having problems getting WPA to work on my wireless network. I've got
64bit WEP
> working fine, but I can't get the wireless card in my laptop to connect if
I set up
> WPA.
>
> I think I've set everything up as it should be, using WPA-PSK and TKIP
encryption,
> but it simply refuses to work. I've double checked the passphrase and it
is the same
> in both the router and the laptop.
>
> I've tried the WinXP config and the config software that came with the
card in the
> laptop.
>
> The router is a Linksys WAG54G, and the wireless card in the laptop is a
WPC54G v1.2
> The laptop is running WinXP Home SP2.
>
> I'm wondering whether the laptop card doesn't support WPA, even though the
latest
> software I got from the Linksys web site gives the WPA option. The
original software
> I got with the card only had WEP support.
>
> Now WEP is better than nothing, and in the rural area where I live someone
would have
> to park on my driveway to get a signal, so security isn't a major worry,
but I'd like
> to get it working if at all possible.
>
> I'm hoping some of the knowledgeable folks in here ay be able to point me
in the
> right direction
>
> TIA
>
> --
>
> Andrew Sayers

Sorry that this is not going to be much help to you, but I have tried
several different combinations of cards/routers using WEP and they all work
fine. When I do the same with WPA and the results are much less successful.
It seems to me that WPA combinations either work or they don't. Luckily
here I have managed to drop on a wireless access point and usb adapters that
work well together with WPA-PSK TKIP. Just incase anyone would like to know
what hardware I'm using here, I use a D-Link DWL2000AP Wireless Access Point
and connect to it using several different Safecom SWLU-5400 USB adapters
(one on each PC). This combination works really well with WPA PSK (TKIP)
and is extremely reliable.

Andrew, if you have the latest drivers at both sides and the hardware works
fine with WEP, then I assume it just ain't a compatible combination with
WPA. Don't bank on it ever working properly, as it might just be a no go
situation. I can feel your frustration here. I always like to have the
best security on offer and WPA-PSK is better than WEP, but having said that,
if your radio access is only short range then you have little if anything to
worry about.

I hope that someone can be more positive on the problem.
Regards

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Andrew Sayers
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>I think I've set everything up as it should be, using WPA-PSK and TKIP
>encryption,
>but it simply refuses to work. I've double checked the passphrase and
>it is the same
>in both the router and the laptop.
Change the pass-phrase to something really simple with only lower case
alphabetic characters.
>I'm wondering whether the laptop card doesn't support WPA, even though
>the latest
>software I got from the Linksys web site gives the WPA option. The
>original software
>I got with the card only had WEP support.
It's a driver thing not a hardware thing AFAIK so updating the drivers
can change the feature set.
>I'm hoping some of the knowledgeable folks in here ay be able to point
>me in the
>right direction
I'd love to say I could, but I had a 'mare of a time getting mine to
work. I ended up changing the card which worked but the original card
works just fine in another machine with WPA connecting to the same
router. It's a bugger if it doesn't work first time. Google throws up
dozens of hits, none of which have definitive answers.
>
>TIA
>

--
Clint Sharp

Andrew Sayers <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> Hi
>
> I'm having problems getting WPA to work on my wireless network.
> I've got 64bit WEP working fine, but I can't get the wireless
> card in my laptop to connect if I set up WPA.
>
> I think I've set everything up as it should be, using WPA-PSK
> and TKIP encryption, but it simply refuses to work. I've double
> checked the passphrase and it is the same in both the router and
> the laptop.
>
> I've tried the WinXP config and the config software that came
> with the card in the laptop.
>
> The router is a Linksys WAG54G, and the wireless card in the
> laptop is a WPC54G v1.2 The laptop is running WinXP Home SP2.
>
> I'm wondering whether the laptop card doesn't support WPA, even
> though the latest software I got from the Linksys web site gives
> the WPA option. The original software I got with the card only
> had WEP support.
>
> Now WEP is better than nothing, and in the rural area where I
> live someone would have to park on my driveway to get a signal,
> so security isn't a major worry, but I'd like to get it working
> if at all possible.
>
> I'm hoping some of the knowledgeable folks in here ay be able to
> point me in the right direction
>
> TIA
>

Andrew,
I've installed lots of Linksys wireless routers. At a couple of sites some
of the clients detected the network and reported a strong signal, but could
not connect.

I found that changing the channel used by the router solved it - couldn't
find a logical explanation, but it worked.

Clint Sharp <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Andrew Sayers
><(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>>I think I've set everything up as it should be, using WPA-PSK and TKIP
>>encryption,
>>but it simply refuses to work. I've double checked the passphrase and
>>it is the same
>>in both the router and the laptop.
>Change the pass-phrase to something really simple with only lower case
>alphabetic characters.
>>I'm wondering whether the laptop card doesn't support WPA, even though
>>the latest
>>software I got from the Linksys web site gives the WPA option. The
>>original software
>>I got with the card only had WEP support.
>It's a driver thing not a hardware thing AFAIK so updating the drivers
>can change the feature set.
>>I'm hoping some of the knowledgeable folks in here ay be able to point
>>me in the
>>right direction
>I'd love to say I could, but I had a 'mare of a time getting mine to
>work. I ended up changing the card which worked but the original card
>works just fine in another machine with WPA connecting to the same
>router. It's a bugger if it doesn't work first time. Google throws up
>dozens of hits, none of which have definitive answers.


Thanks to all who responded. For some bizarre reason its working now.

I changed everything back to WEP and the links all worked. This afternoon I decided
to try an experiment and see if my wife's laptop which is a recent model with
wireless built in, would connect using WPA. This way I could eliminate the router as
a problem if it worked.

I set the router back to WPA using the original pass phrase which it seemed to have
remembered, and set up WPA on my wife's lappy. Hey presto it connected straight away.
I then tried with my laptop - this time it detected the network and when I changed
the settings to WPA (after one system crash during the process) it connected fine and
made the link.

I've no idea why it has decided to start co-operating, I'm guessing that maybe the
router didn't start broadcasting properly when I initially set up the WPA settings.

Strange..


--

Andrew Sayers