help !! can't setup wep .. going nuts

On 2 Aug 2006 02:06:24 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in :

1. Make sure all devices have the latest firmware.
2. Enter WEP keys manually in _hex_.

Hi John .. there has been no firmware update for either the router or the wireless adapter. The OS is XP SP2 I can only enter keys in hex manually. For some reason, the form where I could enter the passphrase and have the router generate keys, has the key fields greyed out, so nothing is seen in those fields. i have tried rebooting the PC, reseting the router and as many perms and combs I can think of, nothing seems to work.

thanks

-S

John Navas wrote:

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com hath wroth:

Make sure you're using Intel Proset 10.x. Much better than XP Wireless Zero Config or earlier versions. Unfortunately, the F5D6231-4 only supports WEP. You really should be using WPA as WEP is easily cracked.

This is not the currrent problem but methinks you should know about this... There's a problem with WEP. Different vendors have different ideas on what constitutes converting an ASCII WEP key to a Hex WEP key. If you use an ASCII key, chances are high that it won't work because of different ASCII -> Hex conversions. There are also some routers that generate garbage for the Hex key if you use strange ASCII characters. Stay with Hex keys and it will always work.

Don't bother. Setup the WEP key manually.

No clue on that one. Sounds like you're stuck on defaults. Can any other settings be saved or is it just the WEP configuration?

Did you save the settings? You probably did, but I thought I would ask anyway.

I have the exact same Belkin router sitting in its box on a shelf in my office. I don't have the heart to inflict it on a customer. As I vaguely recall (not sure), it had a problem with the internal web server as the web pages had too long an expire time. Instead of reading the web page from the router, the browser was reading from the browser cache. Clear the browser cache or force a refresh with . Try with a different web browser or different machine. If that's not it, then it's simply not saving the settings, which implies a broken Belkin router.

That's only one reason why mine is on the shelf. I suggest you buy something that does 802.11g and WPA encryption.

You should always configer your wireless access point using a cable connection.

On Thu, 3 Aug 2006 01:34:08 +0200, snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Axel Hammerschmidt) wrote in :

Good idea, but "always" is a bit strong. ;)

thank you all for the posts. the comment on wpa duly noted and i will look for a replacement router with wpa capability.

but ....... the real culprit turned out to be the browser .. firefox

few minutes ago i decided to use IE instead and lo and behold the "greyed out" boxes are no longer there in the router web page. it was a breeze to setup wep.

i am so used to using firefox that i did not think that it could be a source of the problem.

amazing.

-S

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Axel Hammerschmidt) hath wroth:

There's nothing wrong with configuring a wireless router or access point via wireless. I do it all the time without any problems. However, don't try to update the flash over a wireless connection. What happens is that some routers disconnect the wireless connection before the flash is done uploading, resulting in turning the router into a brick.

On 2 Aug 2006 20:15:57 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in :

Indeed, because it's almost certainly not a Firefox problem -- 1.5.0.5 has no such problems here.

You might have scripting disabled with NoScript for the router setup?