Wireless Problem

[andyby2k26]

Ok, i just got my first MacBook yesterday and im having a problem connecting to my wireless router(Belkin 802.11g).

The Mac finds the router when it searches for a netowrk but when i try to connect it says nothing more than "there was an error joining the airport network 'belkin54g'". It recognises when i take off WEP however so it is obviously recognising the router fine. My dad also got Mac yesterday and he is having the same problem. Its probebly something really obvious but i dont know what else to try! ive been in every menu i can find and it gets me no further. My knowledge with macs is pretty limited...

I can however connect to the internet when i directly connect the Mac to the router.

Any help would be great,

Andy

 

[miniConvert]

Hi

Do you have other wireless devices connected? Do they work fine?

Does the Mac prompt you to enter the WEP key, or give up before that?

Have you tried a different encryption type? WPA is more secure than WEP, and it means you can enter a passkey rather than a HEX string, which is just easier. If all your devices support WPA then I'd strongly advise changing to it.

 

[mpw]

Am I right in saying that you need to put a $ before the WEP code sometimes? I'm sure I had a similar problem with my first router.

 

[andyby2k26]

I have a windows laptop that connects fine to the network using a wireless adaptor so i know the wireless works.

Im pretty sure it isnt a security probelm because it it fails either way. When i remove the WEP it just fails as i click connect, and with WEP it fails at the same point, obviously after entering the WEP.

Dont know where to go from there

 

[andyby2k26]

I have seen a few people mentioning putting the $ in front of the wep key but it didnt seem to make a diference for me

 

[Spoony Bard]

Not sure if it'll make a difference, but you might want to try switching to WPA/WPA2. In fact, I recommend doing that regardless. WEP is <i>extremely</i> vulnerable to attack.

 

[mad jew]

Am I right in saying that you need to put a $ before the WEP code sometimes? I'm sure I had a similar problem with my first router.

Yeah, it is required in some cases when the password is hexadecimal. It was meant to be eradicated a while back, but for some reason a few routers still demand it. It's probably because they're French and behind the times.