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JustinHorne · Jul 30, 2007, 11:50 PM

So, my girlfriend's MBP (15 2.4 256 graphics 160 7200 LCD) arrived today, after more than a month.

Her network is secured, but she has the correct password (parent's house.) SHe tries to connect, asks for the password, then says there is an error and it will not connect to the network.

I haven't had my hands on the machine to see if there's a glaring conenction issue, but it SOUNDS like she's doing it right...
Can anybody offer suggestions, she's really unhappy, and it's her first mac, and her family didn't want her to get one, etc.

Any thoughts at all?

SoBayJake · Jul 31, 2007, 12:45 AM

Any time mine did that in the past, a reboot of both machine usually helped. Sometimes, a reboot of the access point at the same time.

A few questions. Do they broadcast the SSID? Is the correct encryptioin type chosen in the drop-down menu when you try to join the network? What happens if you disable decryption? Are they filtering based on MAC id?

What type of access point do they use? There might be an issue with the vendor doing something non-standard.

ibook_steve · Jul 31, 2007, 04:16 AM

Chances are it's MAC address filtering on the router that's preventing the new machine from connecting to the wireless network. You'll need to get connected to the router to check and see if this is the case.

Steve

ghporter · Jul 31, 2007, 07:54 AM

We'd need a LOT more information to give you a solid action plan, but it looks like ibook_steve's on the right track. FIRST, what wireless router/access point is being used on this network? Does she have admin rights to the router/access point? What kind of security?

JustinHorne · Jul 31, 2007, 01:42 PM

Ok, thanks for the details on what I need to know. I'll find out and get back to you, hopefully tommorrow.
Since my orig. post, I updated her MBP with all the available updates, and she has since tried again, no luck, so that rules that idea out.

Nivag · Jul 31, 2007, 02:06 PM

try the dollar sign ($) in front of the password, i know this helps on some older network password.

AirPort: Joining an encrypted wireless network

peeb · Jul 31, 2007, 02:34 PM

First, if she has access to the router, I would try switching encryption off, and testing it. If that works, you are most likely selection the wrong type of encryption on the MB, or, as others suggested, it could be MAC address filtering.

JustinHorne · Jul 31, 2007, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by ibook_steve

Chances are it's MAC address filtering on the router that's preventing the new machine from connecting to the wireless network. You'll need to get connected to the router to check and see if this is the case.

Steve

When I Get connected, what is it I will be looking for?
I'm fairly competent with router settings, but I want to account for any wuestions I have before I go over there, since obviously, it'l be tricky for me to get online to ask more..
I could use one of their windows computers, but... nah.

ghporter · Jul 31, 2007, 06:29 PM

First, make sure you're connecting through a wired computer-it makes a difference.

Somewhere in the router configuration there will be options for Security, Encryption, WEP/WPA, etc. First note the settings and then simply turn that off. At this point, try to connect your wife's computer.

If it was a security issue (like mistyping the password) then the computer should connect. If not, then you need to look at MAC Address Filtering. This one is often known by a lot of different names. On my Linksys access point it's under Setup|Advanced|Filters. A MAC address (known as an AirPort ID on Macs) is a set of 6 hex pairs like this: 0a:1b:2c:3d:4e:5f You can find this information from Network Preferences, with the AirPort adapter selected. Carefully copy the information from your wife's computer and enter it where appropriate in the router's setup. DO NOT FORGET TO SAVE THIS CHANGE.

Good luck.

JustinHorne · Jul 31, 2007, 09:15 PM

Wow, awesome help, thanks much, I'll post an update tomorrow.

JustinHorne · Aug 2, 2007, 07:21 PM

Well, good and bad news. The good enws is that for the time being, her MBP can now access the network.

The bad news is, I didn't REALLY fix the problem.

It's a linksys router, Wep 64 was enables, mac address filtering was DISabled.
PRetty much no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to connect with WEP enabled. If I turned WEP off, it connected just fine.
I ended up turning WEP off, turning MAc address filtering on, and allowing her address. It's a semi reasonable solution because of her location, there will be almost no one ever trying to get free internet there. That said, it's a possibility, and mostly, I'm still curious as to why I couldn't get it to connect with WEP?

I guess some relative recently came over with a Vista laptop, input the password, and it connected instantly.

Any thoughts?

EDIt: yes, they broadcast the ssid.

SoBayJake · Aug 2, 2007, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by JustinHorne

Well, good and bad news. The good enws is that for the time being, her MBP can now access the network.

The bad news is, I didn't REALLY fix the problem.

It's a linksys router, Wep 64 was enables, mac address filtering was DISabled.
PRetty much no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to connect with WEP enabled. If I turned WEP off, it connected just fine.
I ended up turning WEP off, turning MAc address filtering on, and allowing her address. It's a semi reasonable solution because of her location, there will be almost no one ever trying to get free internet there. That said, it's a possibility, and mostly, I'm still curious as to why I couldn't get it to connect with WEP?

I guess some relative recently came over with a Vista laptop, input the password, and it connected instantly.

Any thoughts?

EDIt: yes, they broadcast the ssid.

Did you enter the WEP password as ASCII HEX (only 0-9 and A-F) or as regular character string?

JustinHorne · Aug 2, 2007, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by SoBayJake

Did you enter the WEP password as ASCII HEX (only 0-9 and A-F) or as regular character string?

Well, that was one of my questions...

On the router setup, there is a "passphrase" box. It remains empty.
If I put in a password, (I tried "password" for simplicity), I could then hit a button beside it entitled "generate random keys," or something to that effect.
If I did, it would then show me four (what looked to be hex) keys.

I never did figure out which was the actual password a user would have to input.
Regardless though, I tried both, they both failed.

ghporter · Aug 2, 2007, 09:11 PM

That probably just generated keys, and did NOT cause one to be entered. Try copying one and pasting it into the box to see if it takes.

I'd still like to know what router you're dealing with. Being able to look up the documentation could allow us to cut to the chase so to speak.

JustinHorne · Aug 4, 2007, 10:10 PM

It's a WRT 330N Linksys.

JustinHorne · Aug 15, 2007, 10:26 PM

TTT, never did get it figured out.