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djjava · Apr 1, 2003, 10:53 PM

I am using my PB with Airport. My girlfriend just got her Linksys Wireless-G card for her HP laptop. The airport network is found. I enter the WEP Key... and... nothing. Help!!

aaanorton · Apr 2, 2003, 10:21 AM

Get a new girlfriend.
Or, try disabling all security features and connect like that. Then re-add security. This way you know that equipment is ok. Is there any MAC address filtering enabled (or even available) on the AEBS? You do have the Airport Extreme base, right?

djjava · Apr 2, 2003, 11:19 AM

yes.. airport extreme all the way.

I thought about dsiabling the security stuff. I'll have to figure that out thursday.

ghporter · Apr 2, 2003, 02:34 PM

Most of the time when trying to network AirPort with other company's stuff WEP is the problem. And the solution is simple: you have to enter the key correctly. It's usually easiest to use the other device's key, since it will be (almost always) in hexadecimal, sort of the lengua franca of WEP keys. Anyway, either put a "$" at the front when you enter it in your AirPort application, or (when available in the software) select the button that says the key is hex, rather than text or what have you.

Of course you have to make sure that you have the right channel and SSID, and so on, but if your computer sees the network that shouldn't be a problem.

djjava · Apr 3, 2003, 05:36 PM

i turned off the wep stuff. still no luck. the signal strength is strong. i don't understand....

aaanorton · Apr 3, 2003, 05:46 PM

What about MAC address filtering? I'm not sure what Apple calls it or if it is even an option, but it sure sounds like what you are facing. The ABS can read the MAC address (which is like a serial number) of the connecting card(s) and only allow certain, specified cards. You can add the Linksys' MAC address to this list and all should be fine. Sorry, but I can't tell you where to find this, cuz I don't use an ABS. The MAC addresses look like this:
xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
or
xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx

djjava · Apr 5, 2003, 12:00 PM

I couldn't get the HP notebook on the net via airport, so i called linksys.. they went thru this and that... i got put on hold... and did some fishing around and I figured it out BY MYSELF. For those experiecing similar issues with linksys hardware and airport base stations here is what i did:
1) disable all network bridges
2) configure the wireless connection to obtain IP automatically (if it is set to something already that is)

I went through a whole bunch things like pinging the base station and ipconfig in dos-prompt. Nonetheless I got it to work, and had to wait a few minutes for the girl to come back so I could tell her that i figured it out myself.

atleast now I can tell my girlfriend to move her stinking HP notebook so my PB17 can sit next to my (shutters) PC.

ghporter · Apr 5, 2003, 02:35 PM

Is the HP laptop running Windows XP? Sometimes, XP decides it wants to bridge network connections by itself, and that keeps lots of users hopping, trying to figure out what's up. Once you disable the bridge, the wireless suddenly works!

What about your PowerBook-how's it going with that?

djjava · Apr 5, 2003, 08:59 PM

Originally posted by GHPorter:
Is the HP laptop running Windows XP? Sometimes, XP decides it wants to bridge network connections by itself, and that keeps lots of users hopping, trying to figure out what's up. Once you disable the bridge, the wireless suddenly works!

What about your PowerBook-how's it going with that?

The hp is unfortunately running windowsXP. My powerbook is still strongly on the internet. working great... gotta love it.. Glad i switched.

ghporter · Apr 6, 2003, 07:35 PM

Originally posted by djjava:
The hp is unfortunately running windowsXP. My powerbook is still strongly on the internet. working great... gotta love it.. Glad i switched.

Yep, that's what I thought. Somehow Microsoft has managed to build a new headache into Windows-something that they should have been very careful not to add headaches to. Oh well, you got it running. Now that it is, you'll find (and so will your girlfriend) that XP is the best Windows OS yet. Not as friendly as MacOS, by any means, but much better than any previous Windows. Enjoy sharing.