[SOLVED] iwconfig shows no encryption, yet router is set to encrypt, why?

mfoley · 06-05-2017, 01:54 PM

iwconfig gives me:

Code:

$ iwconfig
wlan2     IEEE 802.11abgn  ESSID:"ATT33Lu4E9"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.785 GHz  Access Point: F8:18:97:E7:2C:A2
          Bit Rate=121.5 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=53/70  Signal level=-57 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:5  Invalid misc:33   Missed beacon:0

Yet the AT&T router for this shows that security is enabled. See image: ATT-5GHz.jpg. The KDE desktop network icon also shows security. See image KDEnetInfo.jpg.

Why do the command line tools (iwconfig, iwlist, ...) show no security setting, but the router and KDE desktop icon do?

WHY?

ponce · 06-05-2017, 02:08 PM

https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ey-off-818878/

Code:

# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"MYESSID"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: AA:AA:AA:AA:AA:AA   
          Bit Rate=39 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=63/70  Signal level=-47 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:25535   Missed beacon:0

Code:

# iwlist wlan0 scanning
wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: AA:AA:AA:AA:AA:AA
                    Channel:1
                    Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                    Quality=49/70  Signal level=-61 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"MYESSID"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
[...]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_...ed_Access#WPA2

mfoley · 06-05-2017, 11:06 PM

So, seriously, iwconfig's "Encryption key" setting ONLY refers to WEP? How nearly last-century! Somebody should fix that! Very confusing; and repeatedly so given the various posts asking my same question.

Yes, running `iwlist wlan2 scanning` does show "Encryption Key

n".

Thanks - I'd have likely never figured that out.

bassmadrigal · 06-06-2017, 07:55 AM

In my, albeit limited, knowledge of wireless and Linux, iwconfig knows nothing about WPA/WPA2. It was made to only work with WEP-encrypted or unencrypted networks. Once major security holes were found in WEP, the industry switched encryption protocols, and wpa_supplicant was brought about because of that. I'm not sure why iwconfig never added support for WPA directly in the program.

But basically, iwconfig doesn't recognize WPA, so it thinks the connection is unencrypted since it didn't pass a WEP key. wpa_supplicant is managing everything regarding the encryption, and iwconfig doesn't know any better.