Can I get a old 2001 era notebook to connect to a WPA-PSK network?

[Dot Matrix]

My room mate still uses a old notebook for work, and it sucks having to drop down to WEP to allow him to connect each time. But it seems the notebook is so old It cannot connect to the network when I have WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES] enabled, even though Windows XP recognizes it. If not, I'll have to look into a dual band router.

Either way, I am not sitting in the middle of the city running WEP. No siree.

[JJ_]

I'm sure it should be able to connect to a WPA2 network. What happens when he tries connecting to your network when you set security to WPA2 only? Does he get an error? I remember years ago when I had to install this optional update on my notebook running XP to connect to WPA2 my network: http://www.microsoft...ls.aspx?id=1974

[Dot Matrix]

It "sees" the network, but is unable to acquire an IP.

[JJ_]

In my case, it hung during handshake until I installed the update in post #2. Give it a try. It might also be worthwhile checking the wireless chipset manufacturers website to see if there's a newer driver (use Aida64).

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

Would it be possible to install an 802.11n MiniPCI WWAN card in the notebook?

Another possibility might be to add a USB or CardBus 802.11n adapter to the notebook, if its internal WLAN cannot be upgraded to 802.11n.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[remixedcat]

have you tried WPA-Mixed with AES and PSK??

[Digitalfox]

Either way, I am not sitting in the middle of the city running WEP. No siree.

You're absolutely right :o

In the middle of a city with thousands of people wanting to connect "freely" to Wifi, using WEP is like saying "Here have some Wifi, just search Google for Wizard WEP based Tools and use my Net".

I would check every day my router logs if I were you.

Good luck!

[Intersect]

My room mate still uses a old notebook for work, and it sucks having to drop down to WEP to allow him to connect each time. But it seems the notebook is so old It cannot connect to the network when I have WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES] enabled, even though Windows XP recognizes it. If not, I'll have to look into a dual band router.

Either way, I am not sitting in the middle of the city running WEP. No siree.

the simpleist way to solve this issue is for your friend to get him self a good usb wifi adapter wireless G type devices will support your routers setup.

make sure is a brand name like Netgear or edimx. if usb ports are an issue then im sure his laptop would have a PCMCIA card slot so again get a wireless G type card that will fit in the slot.

[Japlabot]

I've seen plenty of old laptops which the latest updates that Support WPA/WPA2 in XP but the hardware just can't connect to it even if it sees it. This is expected behaviour when it doesn't support it. The best hope of it connecting natively is WPA with TKIP, which is just as insecure as WEP (WPA with AES is secure enough). Best taking Aryeh's advice or even better yet, get a new laptop! That thing is old! time to let it go or just use a network cable instead.

[Dot Matrix]

have you tried WPA-Mixed with AES and PSK??

Yes, and it didn't work.

@All: I might just have to purchase a dual band router since the laptop is a company owned laptop. I was hoping there was something I was missing in XP that I could toggle on, but it seems that isn't the case. :(

[remixedcat]

and wow I thought my motorola barcode scanner I use for work had fitsy wifi!!!

[f0rk_b0mb]

What about something like this? Says it has support for XP SP3 so it should be fine.

http://homestore.cisco.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=140978280&srccode=cii_23393768&cpncode=30-96515682-2&utm_source=CSE&sourceid=CSE&src1=CSE

[sc302 Veteran]

get a miniusb wifi adapter. It should have the capability and driver support that you need to do what you want. you will need to have it support the os that is on that laptop.

[evieluvsrainbows]

Here's what I recommend, just get your roommate a new laptop. Like a 2011 Acer Aspire 5333. It works pretty good but it will work even better if you just get a disk for Windows 8 Pro. It works amazingly fast.

[+BudMan MVC]

"The best hope of it connecting natively is WPA with TKIP, which is just as insecure as WEP"

That is PURE freaking FUD!!! Are there attacks against TKIP sure - but they are not the sort of attacks that allow access to the network. Sorry but WPA tkip is vastly more secure than just WEP.

XP with the right service pack will support WPA/WPA2 but your problem is most likely his hardware. What is the actual wireless card that is in the laptop? 2001 - you sure its not just a B card? 802.11g did not come out until 2003 if I recall correctly, so if his hardware is from 2001 -- I would have to expect its only 802.11b -- yeah good luck getting that to support WPA even tkip, even if the OS supports it, no good if hardware does not.

The suggestion of getting a usb or even pcmicia wifi card is the best bet. You can find them for <$10 for sure!

[Japlabot]

"The best hope of it connecting natively is WPA with TKIP, which is just as insecure as WEP"

That is PURE freaking FUD!!! Are there attacks against TKIP sure - but they are not the sort of attacks that allow access to the network. Sorry but WPA tkip is vastly more secure than just WEP.

A quick Google search of "wpa tkip crack" provides plenty of off-the-shelf tools that any script kiddie can download and crack into your network in the search for free Wi-Fi when you are in a very built-up area and your network is the least secure of the lot. Sure it's going to take a little longer to wait until one of your devices re-connects to your Wi-Fi network for the passphrase packet to be intercepted, and then little bit longer to bruteforce the packet to get the key after that, but if someone who lives in range of your network wants to steal your internet, WPA+TKIP is not going to stop them.

[The Teej]

get a miniusb wifi adapter. It should have the capability and driver support that you need to do what you want. you will need to have it support the os that is on that laptop.

This. Just make sure you disable or uninstall your Laptop's current wireless drivers first!

[srbeen]

It "sees" the network, but is unable to acquire an IP.

sounds like DHCP is turned off. A lot of people whitelist wifi points too. no password but if your MAC isnt on the accepted list you get no IP.

[srbeen]

A quick Google search of "wpa tkip crack" provides plenty of off-the-shelf tools that any script kiddie can download and crack into your network in the search for free Wi-Fi when you are in a very built-up area and your network is the least secure of the lot. Sure it's going to take a little longer to wait until one of your devices re-connects to your Wi-Fi network for the passphrase packet to be intercepted, and then little bit longer to bruteforce the packet to get the key after that, but if someone who lives in range of your network wants to steal your internet, WPA+TKIP is not going to stop them.

To follow up on this, WPA2 is also equally secure or insecure, depending how you want to look at it. The problem being is although your packets are encrypted, they can be intercepted. If the data is intercepted and the scheme of the encryption is known (WEP/WPA/WPA2 schemes are basically public knowledge) its just a matter of intercepting enough packets to narrow down key possibilities. WPA2 will take LONGER to crack than WPA, which takes longer than WEP as WPA2 has a longer key so much more possibilities. WPA2 may something like a few million packets where WPA can be cracked on a few thousand logged packets, and WEP you can inject false packets as you please.

The moral of the story is WPA and up is more secure the less you use it, and less secure the more you use it.

[Dot Matrix]

"The best hope of it connecting natively is WPA with TKIP, which is just as insecure as WEP"

That is PURE freaking FUD!!! Are there attacks against TKIP sure - but they are not the sort of attacks that allow access to the network. Sorry but WPA tkip is vastly more secure than just WEP.

XP with the right service pack will support WPA/WPA2 but your problem is most likely his hardware. What is the actual wireless card that is in the laptop? 2001 - you sure its not just a B card? 802.11g did not come out until 2003 if I recall correctly, so if his hardware is from 2001 -- I would have to expect its only 802.11b -- yeah good luck getting that to support WPA even tkip, even if the OS supports it, no good if hardware does not.

The suggestion of getting a usb or even pcmicia wifi card is the best bet. You can find them for <$10 for sure!

Thank you, BudMan

[+BudMan MVC]

"A quick Google search of "wpa tkip crack" provides plenty of off-the-shelf tools that any script kiddie can download and crack into your network"

This goes for WPA2 AES as well if you use P@55w0rd! as your PSK

Please show me attack other than bruteforce/dictionary PSK that allows you into tkip vs aes

Are you talking about the attack from 2008? Dude what part do you not understand about this attack??

"This is not a key recovery attack. TKIP keys are not compromised and it does not lead to decryption of all subsequent frames."

With WEP in like 30 seconds I can be ON YOU NETWORK!!! And watching ALL traffic, using your internet connection, run attacks against your other machines, etc. etc.. Sorry but there are no other attacks other then breaking the PSK that allow you do to this. Be it tkip or aes. So making a statement that tkip is akin to wep is just FUD pure and simple.

Yes any script kiddie can run these attacks, yes can download a simple script to get you on any WEP network in a matter of seconds. Where is this attack against tkip? Point them out, name them. If you would read any of the hits from your own google example you would see this.

Are you talking about grabbing the handshake, and doing a deauthenticate against a client to get the handshake - sure this can be done very quickly. And sure in a sense is easier than WEP.. Problem is with wep there is a limited key space, and I can crack that in seconds sure.

And if you used something like the above P@55w0rd! as your psk then sure your not very secure -- but if you use something like,

WR8c0VCk_+Y;nzgFd/z*WjX\w!y$$]u}

Good freaking luck using your dictionary, bruteforce or even rainbow tables on that. So again saying WPA tkip is as insecure as wep is just not true.

edit: just as a final note, Let me quote one of the guides from the actual makers of very popular crack tools guides on cracking wpa/wpa2 on their website. Now they don't distinguish between tkip or aes in this statement. If tkip wpa was as weak as wep like you say. I would think a site like this would clearly point that out, but what they do say is this

"if you want to have an unbreakable wireless network at home, use WPA/WPA2 and a 63 character password composed of random characters including special symbols."

Now should you use wpa2 aes, yes if your devices all support this - then by all means this is what you should be using with a SECURE PSK!! Or you still leave yourself open to something as simple as a dictionary attack.

[u2_storm]

BudMan is absolutely right on the post above, I would also agree that it's going to be a B card inside. I've had limited success in upgrading the WIFI card drivers inside (it might be worth a go) however a PCMCIA G card or USB card should cost almost nothing on ebay etc and that should fix the issue.

[msn_crazy_100]

Have you looked for any driver updates for the wifi on the notebook? Might show up on windows update under optional/hardware or check google or the manufacturers site.

[Japlabot]

I apologise, yes it is a bruteforce attack to get the key (not as easy as a WEP attack), and there also one where a few rouge packets can be inserted here and there (not a full takeover), what I read about the TKIP attack is that it can purportedly be broken in 15 minutes using a Man in the Middle attack - but so far there are no freely available tools to do this.

Just make sure that you standard security protocol to have a very long password with uppercase, lowercase and special characters and no dictionary words, and it will take forever to crack even with WPA TKIP.

Still, many Wireless cards of this era support WPA-TKIP, not just WEP, but not WPA-AES or WPA2, so WPA-TKIP is worth a go with a long password, otherwise use an ethernet cable or get a new laptop (It is a waste of money to buy a new PCI/USB Wireless card, as this money could be going towards a new laptop).

[+BudMan MVC]

"many Wireless cards of this era support WPA-TKIP,"

How is that, when his card was made in 2001, and WPA (sometimes referred to as the draft IEEE 802.11i standard) became available in 2003

While I somewhat agree, money could be spent on a newer machine. You can pick up a wireless card for less than $10. There are 12 devices under that price here http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100010074%204024&IsNodeId=1&name=%240%20-%20%2410

I would think the cost of a Beer at the airport is worth the hassle of switching between wep and wpa, etc.