XP Pro (sp2) -> Wireless Network Key?

[Andy M]

I'm a Mac guy so am a bit by this.

My dad has recently brought home an XP Pro machine and is trying to connect to his D-Link powered wireless network. We've configured the modem/router, and the Mac's in the house are having no problems, but his XP machine is kicking up a fuss.

The connection details of the modem are as follows:



The XP machine is identifying the network, but as soon as we try to enter the network key it just hangs.

It's been suggested that the password we're trying to enter may need to be in code, and not in English (I know there's a term for this, but it escapes me...). If this is the case, I'm not sure where I could get this password from, because the modem simply accepts it written in English and does not offer it in code.

Does anybody have any ideas?

[Plotloss]

26 Hexidecimal characters (0-9,A-F)

So 26 Fs for example would be a valid 128 bit WEP key

Better off using WPA-PSK though...

[Andy M]

I'm reliably informed, the name of the 'code' I was looking for is 'hexadecimal'.

[Andy M]

Plotloss said:

Better off using WPA-PSK though...

I suspected so. How long does a WPA-PSK have to be? I tried a couple of short passwords, but these weren't accepted.

[Plotloss]

8 at minimum, 20 happy medium, 63 for max security.

These dont have to be hex based, anything will do, though obviously the longer and more diverse you make the string, the more secure your network will be.

[BliarOut]

Isn't that box is set for ASCII key entering, not hex?

[Plotloss]

BliarOut said:

Isn't that box is set for ASCII key entering, not hex?

Oh yeah.

Presumably though one would need ASCII entry on the client to match up the keys, if they are being converted from ASCII to HEX?

Given that its not showing you what the key is?

[Pointyhairedboss]
What if I set my password to 8 asterisks?
[/pointyhairedboss]

[thepassenger]

Personally WEP and Windows XP drove me up the wall. XP insists that the key be in hex. Often if you let the software provided with the card manage the connections you can punch it in as you typed it there. And as you say Mac's don't seem to care eitherway.

Simplest way around it is to give in I'm affraid. Turn on WPA-PSK type in a passphrase like erm "M0nk3yS33M0nk3yD0" (bit short, obvious letter swaps... not that secure but you get the idea). Then feed that in to XP and the Macs.

[robdickinson]

Friend had issues with Xp on my WEP wireless the other week, said he had to set something even though it wasnt used, cant remember which field it was.

[aldi]

I've got a d-link at home, would second the wpa-psk suggestion. Much less hassle!

[Andy M]

After updating the driver on the pc's wireless card, we now have a WPA protected network all up and running

Thanks for the advice given

[robdickinson]

Andy M said:

WPA protected network

For what thats worth