WEP in XP

I posted this in someone elses thread and it went unanswered:

What exactly is the "WEP key "? Is it the hex number itself, or is it the pass phrase (auto key generator)?

What I'm needing is what exactly needs to be entered in "Wireless Network Properties" association tab under the "Wireless network key (WEP)" block?

There are two check boxes: "Data encryption (WEP enabled)" and "Network Authentication (Shared mode) ". Which should be ticked?

There are two data entry boxes: "Network key" and "Confirm network key ". What goes here - the hex number from the router?

Below that is a "Key index (advanced)" box that I'm ASSuming is the key number from 1 to 4, whichever is being referenced. Also another check box: "The key is being provided for me automatically ".

Anyone using XP and WEP that could explain these, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks!

Russ

 

Nobody? Anybody? Gotta be a WEP user somewhere...

 

I'm not an expert I use HEX because my hardware is different brands. HEX anything from A-F 0-9
If you have the same hardware and can use the passphrase then.

1 ASCII Character=8 Bits

1 HEX Character=4 Bits


40 or 64 bit ASCII WEP code has 5 characters

40 or 64 bit HEX WEP code has 10 characters


104 or 128 bit ASCII WEP code has 13 characters

104 or 128 bit HEX WEP code has 26 characters

for security purposes you can't copy the WEP key FROM the fields in
the WZC setup but you can paste INTO those fields. I can place a WEP
key in a txt file and copy it into the fields in WZC without a
problem. So when you set it on the router, copy it to notepad then do
what you want with it FROM notepad.

change the SSID on the router and clients when you do this but
it does mean that no one can connect to your network directly if they don't
know the SSID, it also meams your network would be almost invisible as well

More Wep
Start with the router. Set up the WEP passphase and let it generate
the keys. Copy down the first key - it is case sensitive. Now you
can enable WEP in the router. You will lose your connection
momentarily. Now you can connect to the SSID of your network and
will be prompted for the WEP key you wrote down.

From Network connections> right click the wireless connection and select
properties> then Wireless Networks> select the connection and configure.
This is where you should input the encryption key and the password.

 

Thanks, Maggie!

I'm not using it yet, but am considering it. XP just seems to overcomplicate things... Currently I have set an IP range limited to the number of computers I have connected; engaged MAC address filtering; and do not broadcast my SSID. My thinking was "that's enough security ", but maybe not...

Later,

Russ

 

HEX is easy. I just made up a bunch of them and put them in notepad. Copied and pasted them to the router and cards. I use mac filtering also.SSID and username and password are changed.
eg. 7D9A8F6E7F8A4F7A5C3C9F397F that is a 128bit. 26 hex digits
I live in the country and nobody else around here has wireless. I haven't felt any need to use WPA. My equipment will handle it.
That was all the information I had handy on my computer. Hope it was clear.

 

These articles may be out of date - I don't run wireless so don't keep really up to date on it. But a google search for WEP security turns up quite a few articles that indicate to me that WEP might not be worth the effort.

http://www.isaac.cs.berkeley.edu/isaac/wep-faq.html

http://www.drizzle.com/~aboba/IEEE/

 

Well, WEP aside - am I secure enough? I mean, with the limited IP's available (and all available in use), no one should be able to "log on" to my system. Then with MAC tables set up, even if one could get on, his MAC wouldn't match up with my table. My SSID doesn't broadcast so nobody (short of a VERY lucky guess) would know what SSID to use. Even with someone seeing my signal with a program like "net stumbler" how would they get into my system?

Russ

 

You sound pretty secure to me.