How do you specify wep key for wireless?

[DaveLembke]

I am new to Windows 7 and I am trying to figure out how to connect to my older Wireless B access point which has 128-bit wep encryption, and on the taskbar by the clock there is a wireless nic icon that I select and it tries to connect and says that it is unable to connect to the access point that IT SHOWS as my actual access point.

It does not prompt me for the wep key to be able to connect to the access point. Anyone know where I go to set this up in Windows 7 Home Premium?

I would have expected to be able to go to wireless configuration wizard like Windows XP and specify the hex key or passphrase, but I cant seem to find it. I am guessing that it is burried somewhere and someone might be able to point out where.

[Quantos]

I would really suggest using WPA as it is far more secure than WEP(irregardless of how many bits it is).  If your current router doesn't support WPA then I strongly suggest replacing it.

[DaveLembke]

Thanks for that suggestion. I am very low risk for wardrivers etc as for I live somewhat isolated from the main town and neighbors are more than a 1/4 mile away. So although WEP is vulnerable, the old Wireless-B Access Point still works well and I will use it until there is a bottleneck with my broadband service. The 10mbps is about equal to broadband service out this way.

I ended up finding a way to get it connected, whereas, I could not find the area to setup the passphrase to my access point in Windows 7, but found a website that had a javascript that could take in a passphrase and output the 128-bit hex key needed for the connection to my wireless access point. I found where I could manually type in the 26 character hex key that was provided by that javascript at that website ((which I copied a copy of it for offline passphrase execution )) and the 26 character key starting with 77: was the key I remembered seeing a ways back and I got connected.

When I get home tonight I will link that site here for anyone else looking for a way to convert passphrases to the hex equivilant. At the corporate PC I cant get there from here right now.

Thanks

[Geek-9pm]

If you do not have the script at hand, you can use the old 'DEBUG' command in the DOS emulation. It converts ASCII to hex

Code: [Select]


D:\$A>echo 12345678901234567890123456>help

D:\$A>debug help
-d
0B0E:0100  31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38-39 30 31 32 33 34 35 36   1234567890123456
0B0E:0110  37 38 39 30 31 32 33 34-35 36 0D 0A 34 00 FD 0A   7890123456..4...
It ends with the 0D 0A, which is the end of line. So the 26 chars end just before that.

[Quantos]

Yes, if you are in a rural area then WEP is more than sufficient.  I'm pretty sure that you would notice someone sitting in your driveway intercepting your signals.