WEP Key too long for XP?

I have a PC running ME, which works fine using a (Wanadoo) wireless card to
my (Wanadoo) wireless router.
I have a laptop running XP (SP1 - I can't mess with this as it is a locked
down work laptop) which works fine connected via a direct RJ45 connection to
the same wireless router. Great, two computers, two connections.

However, I cannot connect the laptop to the router using its own built in
wifi... unless I disable WEP on the router, and then it works like a charm.

The Wanadoo setup CD insists that a 26 character WEP key is entered during
setup, and that works just fine, but unless you enter it you cannot progress
through the installation. So, my PC is holding that key somewhere which
prevents me from changing the WEP key on the router.

So my problem is:

When I try to connect to the router wirelessly from my laptop, although I
can physically type in the 26 characters into the WEP key field in the
config of the connection, as soon as I 'OK' it XP truncates the 26
characters to 8 characters. And the connection doesn't work.

I've found several references on Technet etc saying that you can choose
between 40 and 128 bit keys. My 26 character one is obviously a 128 bit key.
I suspect I need to tell XP that I've decided I want to use a 128 bit key
instead of whatever it is currently using.

So my question is simply 'how do I make XP config accept a 26 character WEP
key without truncating it to 8?'

Thanks.

In article <ck0n66$t4s$(E-Mail Removed)>, Carl Young says...

> So my question is simply 'how do I make XP config accept a 26 character WEP
> key without truncating it to 8?'
>
Two ways of entering a WEP key...

One is hexadecimal, the other is to use a proper word which is then
converted to hexadecimal. Sounds like you've a hexadecimal key (uses
characters 0-9 and A-F) and XP is wanting an ASCII equivalent.



--
Conor

Opinions personal, facts suspect.

I tried running the key through a HEX to ASCII converter and it churned out
some pretty weird symbols. So weird that I assumed it must be garbage. I'll
give it a go though and see what happens.

Thanks


"Conor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
> In article <ck0n66$t4s$(E-Mail Removed)>, Carl Young says...
>
> > So my question is simply 'how do I make XP config accept a 26 character
WEP
> > key without truncating it to 8?'
> >
> Two ways of entering a WEP key...
>
> One is hexadecimal, the other is to use a proper word which is then
> converted to hexadecimal. Sounds like you've a hexadecimal key (uses
> characters 0-9 and A-F) and XP is wanting an ASCII equivalent.
>
>
>
> --
> Conor
>
> Opinions personal, facts suspect.

Hang on, converting this Hex to ASCII still gives me a 13 character code,
which XP still truncates to 8. Doesn't work. Thanks anyway though.

"Conor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
> In article <ck0n66$t4s$(E-Mail Removed)>, Carl Young says...
>
> > So my question is simply 'how do I make XP config accept a 26 character
WEP
> > key without truncating it to 8?'
> >
> Two ways of entering a WEP key...
>
> One is hexadecimal, the other is to use a proper word which is then
> converted to hexadecimal. Sounds like you've a hexadecimal key (uses
> characters 0-9 and A-F) and XP is wanting an ASCII equivalent.
>
>
>
> --
> Conor
>
> Opinions personal, facts suspect.

In article <ck46ou$24p$(E-Mail Removed)>, Carl Young says...
> I tried running the key through a HEX to ASCII converter and it churned out
> some pretty weird symbols. So weird that I assumed it must be garbage. I'll
> give it a go though and see what happens.
>
THere's an option somewhere where you can specify which format you're
using. ATM though, I don't have access to a machine with WiFi on.

As an aside, PCTEL do a product called Segue Roaming CLient. Its on a
30 day trial. Give it a go and see if that gets you connected. I found
it solved all the problems I was having.

http://www.pctel.com/roamingclient.html

--
Conor

Opinions personal, facts suspect.

In article <ck49av$9tb$(E-Mail Removed)>, Carl Young says...
> Hang on, converting this Hex to ASCII still gives me a 13 character code,
> which XP still truncates to 8. Doesn't work. Thanks anyway though.
>
By "truncate to 8" do you mean that after you've inputted it and
clicked OK, all it does is show 8 dots where you entered the password
instead of the number you're expecting?

If so then this is perfectly normal and is a security feature of NT
OSes designed to hide the length of a password to help prevent someone
guessing what it is. NT4 as I remember used to default to 12 or 16.

--
Conor

Opinions personal, facts suspect.

Carl,

You'll only see 8 'blobs' in the key field with XP after you've entered it.
I asked a similar question a while back and the answer that came back from
the gurus on the Microsoft networking newsgroup was that this was a security
feature. I admit I could have thrown something at the screen when I read
it.

Wireless networking is tricky enough to get working as it is (just have to
look at all the posts all over the net from people having problems) without
'security features' hiding the key characteristics from you on your own
computer. The manufacturer's utilities for most wireless adapters and also
all the routers I've used don't attempt to hide the length or nature of the
key from you - just the actual digits. This 'apparent truncation' in XP
keeps cropping up as a question.

And why the hell MS didn't mention this anywhere in the help panels heaven
only knows.

Mike

"Carl Young" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ck49av$9tb$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hang on, converting this Hex to ASCII still gives me a 13 character code,
> which XP still truncates to 8. Doesn't work. Thanks anyway though.
>
> "Conor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
>> In article <ck0n66$t4s$(E-Mail Removed)>, Carl Young says...
>>
>> > So my question is simply 'how do I make XP config accept a 26 character
> WEP
>> > key without truncating it to 8?'
>> >
>> Two ways of entering a WEP key...
>>
>> One is hexadecimal, the other is to use a proper word which is then
>> converted to hexadecimal. Sounds like you've a hexadecimal key (uses
>> characters 0-9 and A-F) and XP is wanting an ASCII equivalent.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Conor
>>
>> Opinions personal, facts suspect.
>
>

Thanks Mike. I still can't work out why it won't work with the WEP key. If I disable WEP it works, if I enter the key, it doesn't work. It must be the length of the key that is causing the problem. This is what Microsoft's help page says...

>>>When you enable WEP, you can specify that a network key be used for encryption. A network key can be provided for you automatically (for example, it might be provided on your wireless network adapter), or you can specify the key by typing it yourself. If you specify the key yourself, you can also specify the key length (40 bits or 104 bits), key format (ASCII characters or hexadecimal digits), and key index (the location where a specific key is stored). The longer the key length, the more secure the key. Every time the length of a key is increased by one bit, the number of possible keys doubles

.... but it doesn't tell you HOW!!!!!


"Mike Ball" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:41670e17$0$15112$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Carl,
>
> You'll only see 8 'blobs' in the key field with XP after you've entered it.
> I asked a similar question a while back and the answer that came back from
> the gurus on the Microsoft networking newsgroup was that this was a security
> feature. I admit I could have thrown something at the screen when I read
> it.
>
> Wireless networking is tricky enough to get working as it is (just have to
> look at all the posts all over the net from people having problems) without
> 'security features' hiding the key characteristics from you on your own
> computer. The manufacturer's utilities for most wireless adapters and also
> all the routers I've used don't attempt to hide the length or nature of the
> key from you - just the actual digits. This 'apparent truncation' in XP
> keeps cropping up as a question.
>
> And why the hell MS didn't mention this anywhere in the help panels heaven
> only knows.
>
> Mike
>
> "Carl Young" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ck49av$9tb$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hang on, converting this Hex to ASCII still gives me a 13 character code,
> > which XP still truncates to 8. Doesn't work. Thanks anyway though.
> >
> > "Conor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
> >> In article <ck0n66$t4s$(E-Mail Removed)>, Carl Young says...
> >>
> >> > So my question is simply 'how do I make XP config accept a 26 character
> > WEP
> >> > key without truncating it to 8?'
> >> >
> >> Two ways of entering a WEP key...
> >>
> >> One is hexadecimal, the other is to use a proper word which is then
> >> converted to hexadecimal. Sounds like you've a hexadecimal key (uses
> >> characters 0-9 and A-F) and XP is wanting an ASCII equivalent.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Conor
> >>
> >> Opinions personal, facts suspect.
> >
> >
>
>

SOLVED IT!!!!!!!!! I am so happy.

Actually, I still have no idea why this works but it now does, so I really don't care. I was messing around with various settings and I happened to tick the boxes marked....

In the 'configure' options

Network authentication (on)
This is a computer to computer network (on)

and in the 'advanced' options

Automatically connect to none preferred networks (on)

.... and it now works, WEP enabled. It now shows two instances of the available network. The one I'm connected to has an icon that looks like a portable TV Ariel. The one I can't connect on looks like the Professor Plumb's counter in Cluedo.

Wahey....
"Carl Young" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:ck8bj1$p23$(E-Mail Removed)...
Thanks Mike. I still can't work out why it won't work with the WEP key. If I disable WEP it works, if I enter the key, it doesn't work. It must be the length of the key that is causing the problem. This is what Microsoft's help page says...

>>>When you enable WEP, you can specify that a network key be used for encryption. A network key can be provided for you automatically (for example, it might be provided on your wireless network adapter), or you can specify the key by typing it yourself. If you specify the key yourself, you can also specify the key length (40 bits or 104 bits), key format (ASCII characters or hexadecimal digits), and key index (the location where a specific key is stored). The longer the key length, the more secure the key. Every time the length of a key is increased by one bit, the number of possible keys doubles

... but it doesn't tell you HOW!!!!!


"Mike Ball" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:41670e17$0$15112$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Carl,
>
> You'll only see 8 'blobs' in the key field with XP after you've entered it.
> I asked a similar question a while back and the answer that came back from
> the gurus on the Microsoft networking newsgroup was that this was a security
> feature. I admit I could have thrown something at the screen when I read
> it.
>
> Wireless networking is tricky enough to get working as it is (just have to
> look at all the posts all over the net from people having problems) without
> 'security features' hiding the key characteristics from you on your own
> computer. The manufacturer's utilities for most wireless adapters and also
> all the routers I've used don't attempt to hide the length or nature of the
> key from you - just the actual digits. This 'apparent truncation' in XP
> keeps cropping up as a question.
>
> And why the hell MS didn't mention this anywhere in the help panels heaven
> only knows.
>
> Mike
>
> "Carl Young" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ck49av$9tb$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hang on, converting this Hex to ASCII still gives me a 13 character code,
> > which XP still truncates to 8. Doesn't work. Thanks anyway though.
> >
> > "Conor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
> >> In article <ck0n66$t4s$(E-Mail Removed)>, Carl Young says...
> >>
> >> > So my question is simply 'how do I make XP config accept a 26 character
> > WEP
> >> > key without truncating it to 8?'
> >> >
> >> Two ways of entering a WEP key...
> >>
> >> One is hexadecimal, the other is to use a proper word which is then
> >> converted to hexadecimal. Sounds like you've a hexadecimal key (uses
> >> characters 0-9 and A-F) and XP is wanting an ASCII equivalent.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Conor
> >>
> >> Opinions personal, facts suspect.
> >
> >
>
>

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

I was wrong. The web pages I used to test the connection must have been cached. It still doesn't work. I'm now getting an available network but it's obviously peer to peer.

AGGGGAHHHHHHHHHHHH.............
"Carl Young" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:ck8bj1$p23$(E-Mail Removed)...
Thanks Mike. I still can't work out why it won't work with the WEP key. If I disable WEP it works, if I enter the key, it doesn't work. It must be the length of the key that is causing the problem. This is what Microsoft's help page says...

>>>When you enable WEP, you can specify that a network key be used for encryption. A network key can be provided for you automatically (for example, it might be provided on your wireless network adapter), or you can specify the key by typing it yourself. If you specify the key yourself, you can also specify the key length (40 bits or 104 bits), key format (ASCII characters or hexadecimal digits), and key index (the location where a specific key is stored). The longer the key length, the more secure the key. Every time the length of a key is increased by one bit, the number of possible keys doubles

... but it doesn't tell you HOW!!!!!


"Mike Ball" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:41670e17$0$15112$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Carl,
>
> You'll only see 8 'blobs' in the key field with XP after you've entered it.
> I asked a similar question a while back and the answer that came back from
> the gurus on the Microsoft networking newsgroup was that this was a security
> feature. I admit I could have thrown something at the screen when I read
> it.
>
> Wireless networking is tricky enough to get working as it is (just have to
> look at all the posts all over the net from people having problems) without
> 'security features' hiding the key characteristics from you on your own
> computer. The manufacturer's utilities for most wireless adapters and also
> all the routers I've used don't attempt to hide the length or nature of the
> key from you - just the actual digits. This 'apparent truncation' in XP
> keeps cropping up as a question.
>
> And why the hell MS didn't mention this anywhere in the help panels heaven
> only knows.
>
> Mike
>
> "Carl Young" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ck49av$9tb$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hang on, converting this Hex to ASCII still gives me a 13 character code,
> > which XP still truncates to 8. Doesn't work. Thanks anyway though.
> >
> > "Conor" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
> >> In article <ck0n66$t4s$(E-Mail Removed)>, Carl Young says...
> >>
> >> > So my question is simply 'how do I make XP config accept a 26 character
> > WEP
> >> > key without truncating it to 8?'
> >> >
> >> Two ways of entering a WEP key...
> >>
> >> One is hexadecimal, the other is to use a proper word which is then
> >> converted to hexadecimal. Sounds like you've a hexadecimal key (uses
> >> characters 0-9 and A-F) and XP is wanting an ASCII equivalent.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Conor
> >>
> >> Opinions personal, facts suspect.
> >
> >
>
>