cookiemonster52 Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 hello! we have just password protected our wireless network (belkin wireless router) and now i can't get on, it just says "there was an error connecting to this network" but all my friends windows computers are fine (i have the only mac) i have an ibook G4 btw and OS X 10.3.9 if that helps! does anyone know whats going on????? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patconn87 Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 When you say "password protect," do you mean adding some kind of security to it? If that's the case, did you already try typing in the hex key when you go to connect to the network (if it prompts you for any kind of authentication beforehand)? Just trying to get some clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster52 Posted September 20, 2007 Author Share Posted September 20, 2007 Yea.. it just asks for the password when i click on the network from the airport signal in my top bar, my friend set it up on their windows comp does it make a difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patconn87 Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Yes, I believe that it might makes a difference, but you shouldn't have to go and set everything up with the Mac and then have the Windows machines work around that. When you go to set up the router, you will be using the same web interface that you do with the PCs. What you should do is get the WEP/WPA key for your network, and type that in when your machine prompts you for the "password" (if you haven't tried this already). It puts it in these terms since most Macs default to using the Airport software to connect to a Wi-Fi. I've punched hex keys into the password field before when logging into a non-airport Wi-fi (not using one of Apple's wireless base stations) and it's worked just fine. Oftentimes, though (not really pertinent to your question but I feel as though it's at least somewhat relevant) if you're connecting to an Apple Base station with a Mac, and you can't get the password right, it will still let you connect if you punch in the hex key. Hope that helps. Let us know if you need any additional help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudos Veteran Posted September 21, 2007 Veteran Share Posted September 21, 2007 You might be getting this error if the base station is WPA encrypted because your laptop most likely only supports WEP encryption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster52 Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 You might be getting this error if the base station is WPA encrypted because your laptop most likely only supports WEP encryption. Yea i think it may be WPA but i'm not sure what that means???? can i change it without causing to much hassle for everyone else? I'm not quite sure what hex keys are either? :s so i havent tried that...... Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudos Veteran Posted September 21, 2007 Veteran Share Posted September 21, 2007 They would have to drop the encryption level to WEP for you, this is a pretty insecure standard and personally I forced my flatmate who only has a WEP compatible card to upgrade to a WPA card. An amateur hacker could take out WEP in at most a couple of hours. Living in a student area it's quite likely that i'll have a CS student living nearby looking to leech internet, or worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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