Win98 Wireless USB WEP does not stay set.

I have a wireless USP on my pc w/98 os. Once I set the WEP key code everything works fine and stays that way . However, when I need to powerdown or restart the pc my WEP is gone and has to be entered again. Also, when I join my little home network with this pc it's icon does not show up in the network computers. And what's funny is that I can access the other three pc's on the network.

 

Well for starter, wi-fi support for Windows 98 is very limited. The fact that it works at all is a minor miracle. The number one reason why you have to manually enter the WEP key is compatibility issues with hardware made by different manufacturers. Another reason is if you disable SSID broadcast. While disabling the SSID does provide some security, it hurts more than it helps in terms of getting the signal. There is a lot of overhead in wireless, so it's best not to put too much workload on the hardware.

In short, since the basic wireless works in your case, I would leave it at that. If you want all the security features, I recommend you upgrade to XP which understands wireless networking natively without the need for add-on solutions like those for Windows 98. In fact, when you buy new wireless networking hardware these days, most of them do not even say they support anything below Windows 2000.