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Kraw · Feb 13, 2006, 08:04 PM

My PB G4 12" connects just fine to wifi networks all over. AT my place, I set my router (crappy linksys, maybe 50 bux) for WEP enables, enter my passphrase in the settings on my PC, and it works fine with my wife's Dell. But, when I try to connect with my mac, it will NEVER accept the password. I've tried entering all 4 passkeys, and the passphrase itself... none were accepted.

What am I doing wrong? I searched and didn't find a problem like this. Is it a software update needed on my airport? I'm new to Mac's and trying to learn, so go easy

ibook_steve · Feb 13, 2006, 09:36 PM

A simple search for WEP in Apple Help and on apple.com produced this:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106250

Just use a dollar sign ($) in front of the password. Apple Help is more helpful than you'd think!

Steve

Kraw · Feb 13, 2006, 10:34 PM

didn't know apple had good info on their site. I've always just looked here.

Thanks! I guess I'll spend alot of time searching there like I do here

slffl · Feb 14, 2006, 01:18 PM

I have recently run across this problem on my 17" PB RevA. Let me know if you find a solution.

ibook_steve · Feb 14, 2006, 03:30 PM

Didn't I just answer this?

Steve

P.S. Nice sig!

slffl · Feb 14, 2006, 04:25 PM

Well let me edit my previous statement.

Putting a $ doesn't work because the WEP field only allows for a certain number of characters (using hex). It will not allow me to put a $ in.

JKT · Feb 14, 2006, 04:37 PM

Not any help, but what on earth are you doing using WEP in the first place? It is immensely trivial to crack. You should be using WAP.

Back to the problem, which WEP protocol are you using and have you tried all three different variants? Also, what channel is your router broadcasting on?

Download the free iStumbler to get more info on your wireless network.

Kraw · Mar 14, 2006, 02:35 PM

the $ worked fine for me on wep

thanks

markus · Mar 14, 2006, 03:19 PM

in wep you need to put a "$" in front of your ASCII passcode (so $FF2AAB121) or something to that affect... if that doesnt work try putting quotation marks around the code "FF2AAB121" ...

mintcake · Mar 14, 2006, 03:40 PM

Originally Posted by JKT

Not any help, but what on earth are you doing using WEP in the first place? It is immensely trivial to crack. You should be using WAP.

Sometimes you can't use WPA (for example if you use a Nintendo DS on your network). 128-bit WEP plus SSID hiding plus MAC filtering should provide more than enough security for the average non-paranoid home user.

SSharon · Mar 14, 2006, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by mintcake

Sometimes you can't use WPA (for example if you use a Nintendo DS on your network). 128-bit WEP plus SSID hiding plus MAC filtering should provide more than enough security for the average non-paranoid home user.

It will prevent accidental use by someone nearby, but make no mistake it provides no real protection.

If anyone here wants to learn more I recommend the security now podcast. www.grc.com/securitynow.htm

Macpilot · Mar 17, 2006, 12:27 AM

I use MAC access control on my Airport Express base station. I choose not to use WEP or WPA because I already have interference issues and I understand that encryption can slow down the network even more.

I don't see how access control can be hacked, as the MAC identification is unique to every wireless card.

Can somebody explain how this can be hacked?

amazing · Mar 17, 2006, 12:45 AM

Macpilot: the above link has a podcast (just listen to it itunes) about Bad Wireless Security (MAC and WEP)

ccsccs7 · Mar 21, 2006, 12:08 AM

Originally Posted by Macpilot

…
I don't see how access control can be hacked, as the MAC identification is unique to every wireless card.

Can somebody explain how this can be hacked?

MAC IDs are not set in stone. It's easy to clone them. I bet your router has that feature too, to fool some broadband ISPs that control access based on MACs. If there's no encryption, simple snooping makes it easy to get the required information to "hack" into the system.

amazing · Mar 21, 2006, 09:40 AM

can your WAP tell you how many computers are online? that's something you need to monitor from time to time. Then, if you can figure out which of your neighbors is online, charge 'em a subscription fee (and have them sign a "no child-abusive downloads" agreement)...frankly, life is too short and too full of other stuff to worry about everything under the sun.

in other words, get the best security you can (which means getting rid of any 11b WAPs out there since newer more secure WAPs are cheap nowadays) and stay informed on security issues, then go on with your life.