I have a Macbook and an iMac G5. I have a wireless netgear router, which currently has WPA encryption. I want to change this to WEP (I know it's not as secure but it's for a good reason). Can anyone tell me how I set up WEP on a Mac?
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Wep On Mac
- Thread starter ddk121
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Well the way I had it setup on my mac was. If you have your router on wep and you have to do is click the airport icon on the right side of your mac and find the wireless name and click on it and it will ask you what encryption you want select (wep) then enter your keys
There's nothing to set up, really. When you connect to the router it'll ask you for the WEP key code, and you enter it. No worries.
In terms of configuring WEP on the Netgear...
Sometimes people have had trouble with routers and the way they handle WEP passwords... e.g. whether the password is in HEX or not and how long it is. Sometimes it is necessary to put a $ in front of the password. I've personally never encountered this phenomenon, but people have reported it here before.
Take a look at this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/247922/
It discusses WEP config on a Netgear router.
I think that basically, if you want to be secure but use WEP, if you make the network hidden and MAC address filtered, then really, you are not in such great peril because of WEP...I've been thinking about dropping down to WEP also because I want a DS Lite....
Sometimes people have had trouble with routers and the way they handle WEP passwords... e.g. whether the password is in HEX or not and how long it is. Sometimes it is necessary to put a $ in front of the password. I've personally never encountered this phenomenon, but people have reported it here before.
Take a look at this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/247922/
It discusses WEP config on a Netgear router.
I think that basically, if you want to be secure but use WEP, if you make the network hidden and MAC address filtered, then really, you are not in such great peril because of WEP...I've been thinking about dropping down to WEP also because I want a DS Lite....
If you want to use WEP, please read this for your sanity of mind:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108058
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108058
Thanks! I always knew that this issue existed but I never completely understood *why* it existed.
I have tried all of oyur helpful suggestions, yet, when I click on the SSID in the airport menu, it pauses for a while, and then says, UNABLE TO CONNECT, and gives me two options, TRY AGAIN or OK. In the netgear settings, I have choses 128 Bit, entered a passphrase, and then it generates 4 keys. Any suggestions?
I'm confused about this part... do you ever get to the part on the Mac where you are asked for a passphrase or key? Can you try moving the router physically closer to the Mac or changing the channel on the router? Sometimes this is caused by interference....
As "mkrishnan" said earlier, try using a $ before the wep encryption key, I have come across this many a time on wireless routers and access points, although never had to do this on an Apple basestation
Given up..
I have decided to disable security for now. Here are the some last details about what I did.
I had the setting in the router on 128 bit, I entered a passphrase, and the recieved 4 idential keys. I then looked for the router on my macbook, but it said there was a problem, and gave me to options, TRY AGAIN or OK. I tried again with no luck. I have my laptop right next to the router.
I have decided to disable security for now. Here are the some last details about what I did.
I had the setting in the router on 128 bit, I entered a passphrase, and the recieved 4 idential keys. I then looked for the router on my macbook, but it said there was a problem, and gave me to options, TRY AGAIN or OK. I tried again with no luck. I have my laptop right next to the router.
I think that basically, if you want to be secure but use WEP, if you make the network hidden and MAC address filtered, then really, you are not in such great peril because of WEP...I've been thinking about dropping down to WEP also because I want a DS Lite....
Anybody who is trying to crack your WEP key will immediately skip past these two hurdles, as they will be sniffing network traffic by using a wireless card in promiscuous mode. The only reason to hide your network is if you don't want casual users (e.g. your neighbors) knowing you have a wifi set up in the first place.
MAC address filters are probably more hassle than they're worth, as you have to modify the filter anytime a friend comes over and wants to use your Wifi.
The DS doesn't support WPA, but the Wii does, so unless you need to access the internet on the DS I'd stick with WPA.