[sworthy]

I set up my wap and everything was fine, but I decided to use wep encryption and the password I set doesn't work. How do I reset the password? I can't just type in the ip addy that the router issues b/c I can't connect to it in the first place. As of now I'm stuck being wired, please help.

[Angus_D]

There are some hoops you have to jump through for WEP and AirPort, Apple's implementation is nonstandard. You have to convert it to hex and prefix it with a $, turn around touch the ground, do the hokey cokey and drink a glass of milk while hanging upside down from a tree in your local park or similar amenity.

[Skywalkers new Hand]

reset the router to defaults.

[aaanorton]

Originally posted by Angus_D:
There are some hoops you have to jump through for WEP and AirPort, Apple's implementation is nonstandard. You have to convert it to hex and prefix it with a $...

Ya, but everything after this is exaggeration. Just type a $ before the WEP key when joining the network.

[tooki]

That doesn't work on my MR814, I can assure you!

But there's a way to do it.

Log into the router's config page (always best to do this using wired ethernet!).

Click on Advanced, then on Wireless.

Set WEP to 128 bit (unless you specifically require 40/64 bit WEP, e.g. if you need for a really old non-Apple card to be able to connect).

Type a passphrase into the WEP Key Generator field and press Create.

Copy the resulting hexadecimal code from the Key 1 field into the clipboard.

Press Apply.

[Mac OS X 10.2] Paste the hexadecimal code from the clipboard into any application that supports drag and drop (such as TextEdit or Stickies). Try to connect to your wireless network. Mac OS X should bring up the Airport login window and ask you for the password. Choose 128 Bit Hexadecimal (40/64 bit, if that's what you selected above). Now, select the hexadecimal code in the drag-and-drop text app, and drag it into the password field of the Airport login window. I strongly suggest adding it to the Keychain so you don't have to repeat this all the time! Press OK and you should be in.

[Mac OS 9] Try to connect to the wireless network. The Airport login window should come up, type in a "$" and then paste in the hexadecimal code from the clipboard. I suggest adding it to the keychain. Press OK and you should be in.

tooki

[PreciousBbird]

Originally posted by sworthy:
I set up my wap and everything was fine, but I decided to use wep encryption and the password I set doesn't work. How do I reset the password? I can't just type in the ip addy that the router issues b/c I can't connect to it in the first place. As of now I'm stuck being wired, please help.

I had the same thing happen when I first got started. And come to think of it, I have the same problem nearly every month when I change my hex key. I called Netgear and I was told to:
1. Turn off the power to both my router and cable modem and unplug them.
2. Plug the router back in and wait for the lights to come on.
3. Find a paper clip and stick it in the little tiny reset hole and hold it there for two cycles of something (it took about 30 seconds, I think).
4. Then replug-in the cable modem. This set everything back to the defaults and I went back on the Web site and used the default password provided in the instructions that came with the router.

The tech advised me to set things up WIRED first, as tooki said. I, however, absolutely refused to move my computer into the living room to deal with this, so I ended up doing the reset thing multiple times before everything finally stuck.

For some reason, about every couple of months, I suddenly am told I have to enter my password to join my network. So now I painstakingly write down the blessed string of gibberish and keep it next to my computer with a '$' reminder. When I last reset my hex key, I actually did NOT have to reset everything. I may be slow, but I can learn. Maybe you don't have to go to this extent of resetting, but in case you do, here it is. Good luck!