WEP Key Management, etc.

[berniej]

A question to all wi-fi gurus:

While configuring WEP on a friend's AP, Linksys generated 5 WEP keys.

Are these WEP keys assign-able to a unique wireless workstation? If yes, how can I add more wireless workstations to the wireless network?

I noticed that if I already used one WEP key at one workstation, other workstations can't access the network if I use a WEP key that is already used by another station.

Is there a different way of securing the wireless AP?

Thanks in advance!

[Henjie]

Originally posted by berniej
While configuring WEP on a friend's AP, Linksys generated 5 WEP keys.

Are these WEP keys assign-able to a unique wireless workstation? If yes, how can I add more wireless workstations to the wireless network?

I noticed that if I already used one WEP key at one workstation, other workstations can't access the network if I use a WEP key that is already used by another station.

That's weird. A single WEP key should not only work for a single wireless client. It's supposed to work for all the wireless clients in the network.

Check if all the wireless clients are using the same level of WEP encryption as the router. A wireless client set to use 128-bit WEP encryption won't be able to communicate with a router set for 64-bit, and vice versa.

Another way to make sure you're using the correct WEP key is by setting the router's "Default Transmit Key" to match the number of the Linksys-generated WEP key you're planning to use. The default is the no. 1 key. That's the WEP key that all the wireless clients need to use. And remember that WEP keys are case-sensitive. ;-) 10 hexadecimal characters for 64-bit and 26 hexadecimal characters for 128-bit. The only characters allowed are numbers 0 to 9 and letters A through F.

Good luck!


~Henjie

[Edited on 5-17-2004 by Henjie]

[berniej]

Thanks for the hints Henjie!

On my part, I'll continue my research regarding this weird occurence.

[Edited on 5-17-2004 by berniej]