Q: WPC11 128-bit WEP w/o Linksys utility?

I sympathize with you, George.

I've had so many problems trying to get Linksys wireless networking hardware/software to work on several versions of Windows that I won't buy it or recommend it to my consulting clients. If someone buys it and asks me to install it, I state up front that I can't guarantee that it will work.

Download and install the latest Win98SE driver and utility software from the Linksys web site.

I recommend replacing the Linksys card. I've had good luck on Windows

98SE with wireless hardware from Motorola and Netgear.
Reply to
Steve Winograd [MVP]
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Hi all,

I have a Linksys WPC11v3 running 128-bit WEP successfully under 98SE ... but I'm unhappy with the way it works.

The card works in plain mode as configured by Windows, but in order to enable WEP I have to run the Linksys utility program "wpc11cfg.exe" whenever the hardware is (re)initialized or the signal is lost and AP reassociation is necessary. The program tries to remain resident as a monitor, but it consumes far too many resources to leave running and it appears that once the card has been configured it can be safely terminated without affecting WEP.

However, the program appears flaky and crashes immediately about 10% of the time. The crash isn't fatal and doesn't take the whole machine down but I do have to stop whatever I'm doing and reboot to restore full functionality. I have no other problems with the machine - apart from this one stupid program everything is quite stable.

I've tried unsuccessfully to configure WEP w/o the utility, using the network CPA to set the SSID, channel, etc. and then entering hex WEP hex directly into the registry. I've included the device entries from the registry below (SSID and WEP key values are falsified).

Q: Are the WEP key values in the registry obfuscated in some way or are they just the raw string of hex digits?

The computer is too old and limited to handle a newer OS, but works fine as is for rolodex, note taking, light browsing, etc. It has all the 98 OS updates, IE6 and the latest WPC11 drivers and software.

Is WEP simply impossible on 98SE without using additional software? If so, is there some other, more stable, configuration utility I could use instead of wpc11cfg?

Thanks, George

Reply to
George Neuner

I have no problems at all once I run the gauntlet of wpc11cfg. Once the card is configured everything just works ... albiet a bit slowly.

The machine is limited to 20MB of RAM ... I don't think I could even install ME on it, never mind an NT based system.

George

Reply to
George Neuner

George Neuner wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

That may be true, but the crash prone Win 9'x O/S may be contributing to it as well.

I would think they are just hex digits but I couldn't say for sure.

The machine may not be good enough for wireless technology either it looks like. I had a Windows ME wireless laptop using the WPC11 V1 card and the O/S crashed and burned when the wind blew on the frequencies. I switched the machine to NT based technology and have not looked back.

There may be some other utility to set up the WPC11 V3 card, which you can do all the setup on a NT based O/S without the card's utility with no problems.

Duane :)

Reply to
Duane Arnold

Go to the following link to find out why you should NOT use WEP!!!!!!!

formatting link

"MatchingDeviceId"="PCMCIA\\\\THE_LINKSYS_GROUP__INC.-INSTANT_WIRELESS_NETWORK _PC_CARD-0C0B"

"DeviceID"="PCMCIA\\\\THE_LINKSYS_GROUP__INC.-INSTANT_WIRELESS_NETWORK_PC_CARD

-0C0B"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\System\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\Class\\Net\\0001\\NDI\\Int erfaces]
Reply to
Chris

The easiest way I know of to get WPA on Windows 98 is with Motorola wireless networking equipment:

formatting link
I've installed Motorola for myself and my clients. It's much easier to set up and much more reliable than Linksys.

Reply to
Steve Winograd [MVP]

Anyone can hack WEP!

formatting link

Reply to
Chris

It doesn't say don't use WEP it just advises to use something better.

But since the machine in question is win98 which doesn't come with built in wireless support then the OP must use a linksys utility and since this utility doesn't include support for anything better, then WEP is as good as it gets without upgrading the operating system or the hardware. By the sound of it, neither of these is an option for the OP.

Although WEP is poor and a determined and knowledgable hacker could break it, it is infinitely better than no encryption at all which would leave the network at the mercy of any old jack the lad.

Jim.

Reply to
James Egan

Nonsense!

Yes it's hackable. By anyone, no.

If joining someone else's network is your aim, there are enough completely unencrypted networks around to make cracking a wep network not worthwhile.

Jim. .

Reply to
James Egan

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