LinuxQuestions.org - wifi wep connection problem..

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wifi wep connection problem..

I can't connect to any wep secured routers.. no clue why. When I disable the wep security it works fine, on both routers even but still nothing when the wep is enabled. Its been awhile since I've used linux but I have quiet a bit of wireless setup experience due to problems in the past but I'm stumped. I've searched for about 2-3 hours now and no luck..

Funny thing is it was working just fine yesterday. Freshly installed Slackware 13.1 and had all my drivers working, came home this morning and had no internet :( . Wifi on my android works fine with the wep also.

HELP PLEASE

Quote:

Originally Posted by beeyatchslapp (Post 4223904)

I can't connect to any wep secured routers..

Does Slackware throw an error ?

None at all. there is no signal level at all when everything is configured correctly. Only when I disable the security

probably your wireless router needs restart?

Already tried.. have tryed with 2 completely different routers

Which wireless card/chipset? Which drivers? What application / how are connecting? And what options have you put in?

Have you tried the iwconfig approach?

ifconfig wlan0 down
iwconfig wlan0 essid "YOURSSID"
iwconfig wlan0 key "$KEY"
ifconfig wlan0 up
dhcpcd wlan0

$KEY needs to be hex or prefix it with s:
iwconfig wlan0 key "s:$WEPKEY"

You either have something that works great, sort of works, or is complete trash.
My experience -

Atheros - great, fabulous, works 100% (Laptop miniPCIe)

Intel - same as Atheros. (Have used 22xx, 39xx, 49xx, and 51xx laptop miniPCI and miniPCIe)

rt73usb - kernel drivers suck. I use upstream drivers from ralink. Kernel drivers cause the connection to drop, or to only sync at 1-5mb/s. Upstream gives constant sync rate and speed. (Linksys usb stick)

rtl818x - sort of works. But this chipset is junk. (common $5 usb sticks)

BCM43x - kernel drivers can be flaky. Upstream driver works great. (Another common miniPCI miniPCIe chipset)

Innopro - works almost as good as Intel and Atheros with ndiswrapper. (Linksys PCMCIA card.)

Are you using 'wicd' from ./extra

Device might be acting up.
try...

Code:

# rmmod ath5k

# rfkill block all

# rfkill unblock all

# modprobe ath5k

# rfkill unblock all

# ifconfig wlan0 up



# iwconfig wlan0 essid ""

# wicd

...note: make sure you use the correct driver; in my case it was ath5k.

Code:

# man rmmod

# man rfkill

# man modprobe

its a intel card and it works fine from what i can tell.. didnt have this problem when i first set it up and the card actually installed right out of the box. worked right away no problems right after installing slack.

Code:

bash-4.1# iwconfig eth1 essid 2WIRE243 channel 11

bash-4.1# iwconfig eth1 key 7027719414    

bash-4.1# iwconfig eth1

eth1      IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"2WIRE243"  Nickname:"shibbie"

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated  

          Bit Rate:0 kb/s  Tx-Power=20 dBm  Sensitivity=8/0  

          Retry limit:7  RTS thr:off  Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:7027-7194-14  Security mode:restricted

          Power Management:off

         Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0

          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0

          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0  Missed beacon:0

nothing.... but with the security disabled...

Code:

bash-4.1# iwconfig eth1 enc off

bash-4.1# iwconfig eth1

eth1      IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"2WIRE243"  Nickname:"shibbie"

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:1B:5B:5F:C6:F1  

          Bit Rate:11 Mb/s  Tx-Power=20 dBm  Sensitivity=8/0  

          Retry limit:7  RTS thr:off  Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:off

          Power Management:off

          Link Quality=67/100  Signal level=-60 dBm  Noise level=-85 dBm

          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0

          Tx excessive retries:4  Invalid misc:0  Missed beacon:0



bash-4.1# dhcpcd eth1

dhcpcd: version 5.2.2 starting

dhcpcd: eth1: rebinding lease of 192.168.1.213

dhcpcd: eth1: acknowledged 192.168.1.213 from 192.168.1.254

dhcpcd: eth1: checking for 192.168.1.213

dhcpcd: eth1: leased 192.168.1.213 for 86400 seconds

dhcpcd: forking to background

works fine!

this is why i cant figure it out... its not a router or driver problem from what i can tell...

You're not entering the key correctly.
iwconfig key "s:$YOUR.PHONE.NUMBER"
Since you entered your phone number in ASCII for the wep key, it must be prefaced with s:. iwconfig -h and my post above state this :)
Our use wicd / networkmanager which will handle the keys for you.

BTW, I'd edit out your key ;)

Yeah if it works when you turn the security off, then I'd also suggest double checking your syntax.

But why are you locking down your router? I mean I'm sure your neighbors without the income appreciate your philanthropy.
If its a sensitive information issue, then I'd suggest using WPA. WEP has too many simple exploits...

um its definitely the default 10-digit hex key.... ill try but i never had a problem entering it like that before. and i dont really care about posting it ether. there not mine, thats why you shouldnt use WEP to begin with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cin_ (Post 4224706)

i am that neighbor with no income lmao. i cant take down the security for to long so i dont raise any suspensions.. im the guest here and would like to keep my access for awhile