View Full Version : OSX, 802.11g and WEP
OK, I have a Netgear DG834G WAP/Router, setup to use 128-bit WEP. I'd like to get a G5, OS X Mac to connect to it via an AirPort Extreme card. Simple...?
Well, no. The wireless card in the Mac finds the wireless network without problems, but along with the Network name asks for a password. What password is that? OS X doesn't give me any hints, but it's not the WEP key or the WEP keyphrase. In fact, it's no password that I can think of. It's something to do with WEP, I guess, because if I turn WEP off on the router it no longer wants a password and can connect to the network without problems.
But I want WEP, so how do I configure it...? :rolleyes: :*
FunkyMunky
5th Nov 2004, 18:05
Perhaps your WEP on the router is set to ASCII but the Mac wants you to input a hexadecimal key, or vice versa.
Try swapping the option on the router and trying again, or adjust whatever options the airport has (not a mac user, don'y know anything about em :D) to match the key encoding on the router (64/128 etc bit, ASCII or HEX) then reinput it.
On the DG834G under WEP Security Encryption select Authentication Type "Automatic" and Enryption Strength "64 bit". Enter a passphrase if you've not done so already. The selected key (Key 1 by default) is what you'll need on your Mac. In theory the passphrase should work, but I've never go it to. On your Mac choose WEP 40/128-bit hex under "Wireless Security", select the network name and enter the key mentioned above.
If you store the wrong passphrase on your keychain (where it will be stored by default), choose "Other..." from the wireless menu and enter the detail manually.
I along with various people I know with DG834G's have had to upgrade the firmware to maintain a wireless connection longer than a few hours (to both Mac and Windows machines). Mine is V1.05.00 and that seems okay.
Cheers, Drauk. Daft question, but where is "Wireless Security" on the Mac - I'm a day-1 Mac user, and I can't find it...! :O
There is probably an icon in the status bar, top right hand corner, near the clock. It'll be be segment of a series of concentric circles, sort of like a sonar wave kinda. One click on that will bring up a menu. Your detected wireless network will be on the list, or click "Other..." as described in the second paragraph of my earlier post.
If it isn't there, click the Apple (top left), then System Preferences. Choose Network. Under Show choose Airport. At the bottom there is a check box with "Show AirPort status in menu bar". Make sure it is ticked.
As you're new to OS X you'll find a lot of stuff is a little bit hidden sometimes. Applications like Mail for example are very feature-rich, but look very simple at first glance. I think it is part of what makes people think the Mac is "easy to use", because a lot of complexity is hidden away. It's not the case with software which is in common with Windows though, like Office - these tend to offer the more traditional millions of buttons and menu items.
From other threads I gather that you use Linux quite a bit, in which case you'll love OS X, because when you want to do something quick and dirty you can download all your favourite open source software, compile it, write a script, pipe it through awk, tail the output, etc. etc. etc.
Thanks again, that's got it. Not quite sure why or how though. Your hint got me 90% of the way there. I couldn't find an obvious WEP option, so I tried create network (which did have WEP). That didn't do what I had hoped, but when I switched back to the pre-configured wireless network my next attempt at connecting popped up a box saying I needed a WEP key to connect. It never did that before, but after that it was easy enough and now I'm WEP'd.
My main problem is, as you've guessed, finding out where to go to do things - some things did 'just work' but others, e.g. Bluetooth, needed lots of fiddling until I did something to make them burst into life. Just about up and running now... :rolleyes:
Odd that you had problems with Bluetooth - that is one aspect of OS X that "just works" really well, usually!
The next release of OS X (Tiger) has a search facility built-in to the preferences panel (and almost every other app) - in this case you'd type WEP and it would show you every item that has that as a setting/config item.
D'oh, not there yet. Now if the Mac goes to sleep, it can't reacquire the wireless network. The only way to get it back is to go to the icon in the status bar, pick "other...", reselect the wireless network and re-enter the WEP key (all 26 hex digits!). Then it's fine... until it goes back to sleep...
:*
Oh dear.
The password should be saved in your keychain. To view the keychain:
Open the Applications/Utilities folder (click Finder in the task bar, then hit Apple+Shift+U).
Run Keychain Access
Scroll down to the name of your network - it should say "Airport network password" in the Kind column.
Click the "Show Password" checkbox. It will prompt you for your password (the user's login password you used to log in to OS X) and then it should show you the password you've stored. Is it the right one? If so, click Access Control and check that "Internet Connect' is on the list of applications that is allowed to access this keychain item.
I have a sneaky feeling it won't be listed at all - hence your problem, but take a look before we go any further.
By the way, what version of OS X are you running? (Click the Apple, top right, and choose About This Mac)
Password is in the keychain, and is correct. From the timestamp, it isn't being updated when I have to retype it. Access control is SystemUIServer, Keychain Access and Internet Connect.
The problem seems intermittent - while the network connection never seems to come back automatically, sometimes I can count to ten, click on the airport icon in the status bar and reselct the wireless network, and it comes back to life. Other times, that doesn't work (it pops up an error box) and I have to select other etc. and re-enter the WEP key.
It still seems to be a WEP-related problem though, because if I turn of WEP on the router, then it automatically reacquires the network without intervention.
It's OS X 10.3.6, updated yesterday. Everything else has been updated too.
What version of firmware do you have in your router? I know of 4 people with that Negear router and I've seen Macs used with all of them without problems. Mind you, they've been iBook and PowerBooks, rather than desktop G5s.
It's 1.05.00 - i've also had problems with 1.04.x, but .05 seems fine so far. Two Win XP PCs don't have problems with it, and pick up the settings even if I hibernate on the wireless lan at work and wake up at my home one. :O
It's down to a minor irritation now - after some fiddling, the WEP error has gone away (at least, it seems to have done) so I don't have to type in the bl**dy key all the time. It's just a case of two clicks to reselect the wireless network. Not the end of the world, even if it would be nice if it 'just worked' ;)
Does your WAP broadcast the network name (SSID)? It's an option in the Netgear setup. I've read about different behaviour depending on if this is being broadcast or not, with better results if it is. Might be worth checking what the behaviour is with this on, if it is currently off.
BahrainLad
7th Nov 2004, 20:40
I had this problem with my Powerbook....never re-acquiring the network after awaking from sleep.
In order for your Mac to always look for the right network:
You need to enter the Network panel in System Preferences and then click on Airport, and Configure.
On the 'Airport' tab, change "By default, join..." from 'Automatic' to 'A specific network' and enter the Name/Password.
Problem should be solved.