WEP Airport Extreme Help...

cyko95cyko95
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Does anyone know why my powerbook with a airport extreme card cannot join my linksys wireless network when I enable WEP Security? It works fine until I switch the security on. I've double checked the password (key) and thats not it. I have 2 PC laptops that work fine on the network either secured or unsecured. Any ideas?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    Does your key begin with "$" (w/out quotes)?



    eg:



    $A8G4JD56WJ54OIDCN
  • Reply 2 of 7
    cyko95cyko95 Posts: 391member
    No, it doesn't. Should it?
  • Reply 3 of 7
    cyko95cyko95 Posts: 391member
    Tried that and it worked! Thanks for the tip!
  • Reply 4 of 7
    randycat99randycat99 Posts: 1,919member
    So what's the deal with the $ sign? Just guessing, but is that to denote the following string is a hexadecimal sequence or something?
  • Reply 5 of 7
    regreg Posts: 832member
    You are correct.

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106250



    Many third-party wireless access points use a WEP key or a password entered either as a string of hexadecimal numbers or as five ASCII characters.



    To connect Mac OS X to a third-party wireless access point that is configured to use WEP, format your password one of these two ways:



    1. Hexadecimal - precede the string with a dollar sign ($). For example: $123456789a

    2. ASCII - enclose the characters in double quotes ("). For example: "magic"



    I have only had to use the $ at sites that require WEP if they were not airport base stations.



    reg
  • Reply 6 of 7
    albertoalberto Posts: 71member
    I have a linksys router with WEP on and my iBook works fine withouth the $ sign.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Why don't you use WPA encryption anyway, more secure, well...
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