Networking Woes

[Macaddicttt]

Okay, here's the situation. I'll try explaining as much as I can, but I'm kind of limited in what I can say. So my girlfriend (who's in Norway; I'm in the US) just got a new iBook, but she cannot connect to her family's wireless router.

In the Network Status in System Preferences, there is a yellow dot next to Airport and it says that it is connected to her network (hjem is the name), but cannot get an IP address.

Now she connected for the first time without me, so I don't know exactly what happened. But see, if there was a problem with the password she put in, it would have bounced back to her saying that there was a problem connecting to the network. But now I cannot get it to ask for the password again to makes sure the encryption's right, etc.

The only thing that's different between her PC computers that are connected to the network in terms of settings is that her PCs have something called a WEP Key Index or something like that. I figure this must be the problem, but I might be wrong.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what's going on? Any help would be very greatly appreciated.

 

[VanMac]

Not too sure of all of the details, but I will say this.

On wireless networks, you can enforce security by enabling WEP. I wont go into the details of it, but do a google search on it if you like..

You will require a key to connect to the wireless network when WEP is enabled. Usually the router will ask you for a passphrase when setting up key....example "my dog likes to eat my shoes". This will produce some cyrptic characters that are now your key.

Try finding the key from the router config, or other pc, and create a wireless connection from the iBook using that key. The laptop will remember that key next time.....

 

[paperinacup]

Is automatic DHCP enabled?

 

[Macaddicttt]

Not too sure of all of the details, but I will say this.

On wireless networks, you can enforce security by enabling WEP. I wont go into the details of it, but do a google search on it if you like..

You will require a key to connect to the wireless network when WEP is enabled. Usually the router will ask you for a passphrase when setting up key....example "my dog likes to eat my shoes". This will produce some cyrptic characters that are now your key.

Try finding the key from the router config, or other pc, and create a wireless connection from the iBook using that key. The laptop will remember that key next time.....

That's what has been done. The thing is that the PCs also have something called a WEP Key Index in addition to a WEP Key.

 

[Macaddicttt]

Is automatic DHCP enabled?

Yes.

 

[After G]

If you want to enable her to re-enter her password, go to System Preferences and in the Network configuration, disable automatic joining of trusted networks. Then you can delete the "hjem" network from the list, and she will be able to try putting in her password again.

Make sure also that the router is doing DHCP properly. I had a router once that gave me a 0.165.x.x when it should have been a 192.165.x.x. That caused me no end of grief.

 

[simie]

If you want to enable her to re-enter her password, go to System Preferences and in the Network configuration, disable automatic joining of trusted networks. Then you can delete the "hjem" network from the list, and she will be able to try putting in her password again.

Make sure also that the router is doing DHCP properly. I had a router once that gave me a 0.165.x.x when it should have been a 192.165.x.x. That caused me no end of grief.

If you find that the router is giving you the wrong IP through DHCP - providing you know what the address range should be then enter a static IP e.g 192.165.X.X in After G's case.

 

[Macaddicttt]

Guys, I appreciate the help, but it really isn't helping. I know how to connect to a wireless network. I know how to have the settings correct. The problem is, that's not working. All the settings are as they should be, but the router will not give the iBook an IP address.

Does anyone know anything about a WEP Key Index? Not a WEP Key, but a WEP Key Index. It's a number between 1 and 4. What is it and how do I set it on the iBook? It's the only setting that is different on the PCs vs. the iBook.

 

[belvdr]

Guys, I appreciate the help, but it really isn't helping. I know how to connect to a wireless network. I know how to have the settings correct. The problem is, that's not working. All the settings are as they should be, but the router will not give the iBook an IP address.

Does anyone know anything about a WEP Key Index? Not a WEP Key, but a WEP Key Index. It's a number between 1 and 4. What is it and how do I set it on the iBook? It's the only setting that is different on the PCs vs. the iBook.

When you setup a router with WEP, you can enter 4 different WEP keys, and each of these has an index.

I think I'm correct in stating the Mac won't allow you to select an index, so it defaults to 1. So, change the router to use WEP Key Index #1, and the Mac should connect and get an address. If you change the router's index, you will also need to change the PCs WEP configuration.

 

[simie]

The key index allows you to have 4 separate keys which can be rotated to protect your network and provide better security.

You need to generate your key using a mac program like this Wep Keymaker 1.1 or SaferWep -0.3

In any case WEP can be broken, I would use WPA encryption instead as its supposed to be harder to crack.

 

[belvdr]

The key index allows you to have 4 separate keys which can be rotated to protect your network and provide better security.

You need to generate your key using a mac program like this Wep Keymaker 1.1 or SaferWep -0.3

In any case WEP can be broken, I would use WPA encryption instead as its supposed to be harder to crack.

Unfortunately, not all wireless cards support WPA. How I wish they did...

 

[simie]

Unfortunately, not all wireless cards support WPA. How I wish they did...

If your pc's have service pack 2 installed then Windows XP supports WPA and thus you should able you bypass the cards own software and access your network using WPA.

 

[belvdr]

If your pc's have service pack 2 installed then Windows XP supports WPA and thus you should able you bypass the cards own software and access your network using WPA.

That's not the problem. Some wireless cards do not support this, no matter what client software you use. My pastor's laptop is an older one, and even with all of the XP updates (including SP2), WPA is not an option. Attempting to install the WPA supplicant does no good either.