[Richard W]

Can anyone help me with this problem? I simply cannot get my G5 with Airport Extreme to connect to my Netgear WG602v3 with WPA enabled. I am getting the error message 'the password you entered is not correct for the Airport network 123456'.

Everything works just fine in the clear (i.e. with encryption disabled). Then I turn on WPA on the router, put in the password, go to the G5. The G5 detects that the network requires a WPA password, gives me the dialogue box, then says the password's wrong! I've tried putting the passphrase in quotes, even tried the Hex escape, but nothing gets me there.

I also have a couple of Win XP clients on the network and they are working 100% fine with the Netgear router, so we think the problem has to be at the Mac client end.

I am using SSID broadcasting, and I do use MAC address filtering (although I've tried it without MAC filtering and it still doesn't work).

Finally, I have upgraded both OSX (to 10.4) and Airport Extreme drivers (404.2) to the most current levels.

Any help would be most gratefully received.

[ghporter]

I think there's something about your passphrase that's not getting parsed by the Mac the way it should be. I take it you're typing it in manually-is that correct? You could try using a text editor to create a simple file with the correct passphrase, and use it to copy/paste the passphrase in BOTH the Netgear box and your Mac-this should guarantee that exactly the same characters in the same order are being entered in both places. A quick download to a USB drive or similar medium would allow you to transport the passphrase to the Windows machines just as exactly.

One other thing to pay attention to is making sure the correct flavor of WPA is selected at both ends. What Apple calls "WPA- Personal" is generally called "WPA-PSK" and the Mac defaults to TKIP; make sure both ends are the same.

[Richard W]

Originally Posted by ghporter

I think there's something about your passphrase that's not getting parsed by the Mac the way it should be. I take it you're typing it in manually-is that correct? You could try using a text editor to create a simple file with the correct passphrase, and use it to copy/paste the passphrase in BOTH the Netgear box and your Mac-this should guarantee that exactly the same characters in the same order are being entered in both places. A quick download to a USB drive or similar medium would allow you to transport the passphrase to the Windows machines just as exactly.

One other thing to pay attention to is making sure the correct flavor of WPA is selected at both ends. What Apple calls "WPA- Personal" is generally called "WPA-PSK" and the Mac defaults to TKIP; make sure both ends are the same.

Thanks Glenn, I'll try that out. I have tried several passwords, though, including switching to one which was just numbers (literally 12345678) but even that didn't work. I have also received advice that I might need to enter the password as a Hex key on the Mac, but I can't find the translated Hex key on the Network router (it only shows the passphrase and not the keys) so I'm stuck there.

I had also been trying to use the Windows Wireless Network Setup utility, which should in theory do the same thing (it transports the network settings to each client via a flash drive, as you probably know). I was having some problems with getting the Mac to read the flash drive, though - any ideas what I could do to overcome that? There are one or two other settings in the flash drive that don't mean much to me and I thought they might usefully get set on the Mac too. So if you can tell me how to make that work that would be very helpful too.

I've made sure I've selected WPA-PSK on the Netgear (and the Mac does detect that it's a WPA network - it offers a WPA Personal password dialogue box). With WPA-PSK, the Netgear only offers TKIP encryption anyway, so that's unlikely to be the problem. As part of my efforts to fix this, I have also tried switching to WPA2, but have seen the same problems.

I appreciate your help.

Richard

[ghporter]

For WPA you DO NOT need to enter the passphrase as hex if it's not hex in the router. WPA makes a diferentiation between a plain text passphrase and a key; up to 63 characters of plain ASCII text is a passphrase, while 64 characters is supposed to be hex only. Further, unlike WEP, the passphrase-to-key algorithm is part of the standard, so any plain text passphrase will be turned into the same key, regardless of who manufactured the product.

Is your Mac somehow using some character set other than ASCII? (Grasping at straws here, but maybe it's something...)

[Richard W]

Glenn

No joy. I tried transporting the password over as you suggested but that didn't get me anywhere.

I'm sure the Netgear is using an ASCII passphrase as it demands a 9-63 digit passphrase. I have tried to put in a 64-bit Hex key as generated by the Windows Wireless Network Setup Wizard, but it simply refused to take the last digit. So sounds like it is insiting on ASCII.

Could the Mac be using a character set other than ASCII?? I guess I don't know; how would I know? When I type in the characters so I can see them as I type, they come up as normal looking ASCII characters. Admittedly, some of the letters I've been using are capitalised, but even when I use lower case letters I get no joy.

The thing that's really getting me is that there seems to be no comparable problem no matter where I look!

Couple of other bits of information - the Netgear AP is hard-wired to a DG834 Netgear Router. The router is configured as the DHCP server for the network. The AP and all the PCs/Macs have addresses reserved for them in the router. They all have no problems getting their addresses assigned when they sign on to the network 'in the clear'. But when WPA is put on the problem starts. The Mac seems to get hung up at the point where it's having its IP address assigned. Occasionally, too, the PCs (all XP SP2) get the same problem. I find re-booting the network fixes everything for the PCs, but not for the Mac. Any use?

I've been at this for days now. There's got to be a fix somewhere along the way, but where? Frustrated.

Richard

[ghporter]

I'd say the next thing to do is to reload the latest AirPort software. It's possible that there's something odd going on inside the driver that's somehow goofing up the passphrase. I really wish I had something better to offer...

Of course if ANYONE else has an idea that I've missed, I'd sure like to hear from them!

[Richard W]

I finally got a resolution to the problem.

Sadly, it was this - buy a different Access Point.

I got hold of a Netgear WPN802, and it worked first time. The WG602v3 never worked for me and I'd spent a lot of time on it.

So simple advice - if you're thinking Netgear WG602v3 and WPA with Airport Extreme, then don't. Go for something that works.

R

[ghporter]

I'm glad that you found a resolution, though it's bad that you spent so much time without getting the first unit to work. At least your'e online!