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Mac Forum / General / Networking / April 2007WPA or WPA2, (original) Airport and Linksys?
My previous router flaked out and I decided to replace it with a new Linksys WRT150N. It supports the 802.11n draft, so I'll be ready for a new MacBook Pro when I get one in the (hopefully) not too distant future. But I've got an issue I can't quite figure out. Instead of WPA, it offers various forms of PSK for encryption. I gather that's more or less the same thing with different names, but I can't seem to get anything more than 128-bit WEP to work with my PowerBook G4/800 and its Airport card. This is the *original* Airport (802.11b) and not Apple's newer Airport Extreme card. My daughter's iMac has had one of those I added to it, and my Dell laptop for work with XP installed has built-in support for 802.11g as well. I have no doubt those will work when I get there, but I need to figure out what magical incantation or hand waving will get me set up using WPA or WPA2 on my PowerBook. And thus far, Google searches haven't led to any help. Anybody? TIA, = Steve =  SignatureSteve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama > My previous router flaked out and I decided to replace it with a new > Linksys WRT150N. It supports the 802.11n draft, so I'll be ready for a [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > set up using WPA or WPA2 on my PowerBook. And thus far, Google searches > haven't led to any help. I have an old clamshell iBook and it doesn't require anything special, other than an up to date version of the OS (10.3.9 in this case) to connect using WPA. Using he AirPort interface of the Network System Preferences pane, select the network to which you wish to connect from the drop-down list, enter the WPA password, and click "Apply Now". SignatureTom Stiller PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3 7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF > I have an old clamshell iBook and it doesn't require anything special, > other than an up to date version of the OS (10.3.9 in this case) to [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > select the network to which you wish to connect from the drop-down list, > enter the WPA password, and click "Apply Now". I have been doing this via Internet Connect, so I tried again from the Network prefpane, which seems to offer the same set of choices. Still no joy. And I've got 10.4.9 with all security updates applied... = Steve = SignatureSteve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama > My previous router flaked out and I decided to replace it with a new > Linksys WRT150N. It supports the 802.11n draft, so I'll be ready for a [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > set up using WPA or WPA2 on my PowerBook. And thus far, Google searches > haven't led to any help. You will need a wireless card that supports WPA, such as the Airport Extreme. SignatureJerry Kindall, Seattle, WA <http://www.jerrykindall.com/> Send only plain text messages under 32K to the Reply-To address. This mailbox is filtered aggressively to thwart spam and viruses. > > My previous router flaked out and I decided to replace it with a new > > Linksys WRT150N. It supports the 802.11n draft, so I'll be ready for a [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > You will need a wireless card that supports WPA, such as the Airport > Extreme. I have three counter examples, all using the original AirPort card. They were all purchased with an old Graphite AirPort base station. When the base station failed, I replaced it with an AirPort Extreme base station and configured it for WPA Personal Wireless Security. All the iBooks were able to connect once the new password was entered. SignatureTom Stiller PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3 7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF > > > My previous router flaked out and I decided to replace it with a new > > > Linksys WRT150N. It supports the 802.11n draft, so I'll be ready for a [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > station and configured it for WPA Personal Wireless Security. All the > iBooks were able to connect once the new password was entered. Huh. That's a surprise. None of my 802.11b devices do WPA. But then, none of them are Apple. SignatureJerry Kindall, Seattle, WA <http://www.jerrykindall.com/> Send only plain text messages under 32K to the Reply-To address. This mailbox is filtered aggressively to thwart spam and viruses. > > > > My previous router flaked out and I decided to replace it with > > > > a new Linksys WRT150N. It supports the 802.11n draft, so I'll [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > Huh. That's a surprise. None of my 802.11b devices do WPA. But then, > none of them are Apple. Yeah, the capability is OS dependent and was introduced with one of the releases of 10.3.x (I think). SignatureTom Stiller PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3 7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF > None of my 802.11b devices do WPA. But then, none of them are Apple. IIRC, Apple was the only wireless hardware vendor to provide a WPA update for their old 802.11b adapter cards. > > None of my 802.11b devices do WPA. But then, none of them are Apple. > > IIRC, Apple was the only wireless hardware vendor to provide a WPA > update for their old 802.11b adapter cards. Hmmm... That leads me to wonder if there's some update that may never have gotten applied on my system. I'm at 10.4.9 and have applied all security updates. The only "ignored update" I have is an iTunes phone driver. Maybe I'll poke around Apple's site and see if anything jumps out. = Steve = SignatureSteve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama > You will need a wireless card that supports WPA, such as the Airport > Extreme. all apple airport cards support wpa with osx 10.3/panther or later. > You will need a wireless card that supports WPA, such as the Airport > Extreme. I read that elsewhere, and yet also see other reports of people who claim to be able to use WPA with original Airport cards... Unfortunately, nothing on *my* system specifically addresses it, since the WPA and WPA2 choices are available to me. = Steve = SignatureSteve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama > My previous router flaked out and I decided to replace it with a new > Linksys WRT150N. It supports the 802.11n draft, so I'll be ready for a [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > set up using WPA or WPA2 on my PowerBook. And thus far, Google searches > haven't led to any help. With recent system software, an original AirPort card can do WPA but not WPA2 or AES. Configure the Linksys to use PSK-Personal with TKIP encryption and select Mixed for the Network Mode. > With recent system software, an original AirPort card can do WPA but not > WPA2 or AES. Configure the Linksys to use PSK-Personal with TKIP > encryption and select Mixed for the Network Mode. I saw other info during my Google searches suggesting that Apple's hardware would only do TKIP and not AES, so I've tried the combination of PSK-Personal and TKIP but still without any luck. I have also tried without the SPI firewall included on the router, and I've attempted the AES. Still looking... = Steve = SignatureSteve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama >> With recent system software, an original AirPort card can do WPA but not >> WPA2 or AES. Configure the Linksys to use PSK-Personal with TKIP [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > = Steve = Have you applied the 2007-4 security update? There are reports that it can break the wireless network connectivity especially in 10.3.9. Check out MacFixit.com. SignatureRegards, John > >> With recent system software, an original AirPort card can do WPA but not > >> WPA2 or AES. Configure the Linksys to use PSK-Personal with TKIP [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > can break the wireless network connectivity especially in 10.3.9. Check > out MacFixit.com. No problem here in 10.4.9. But still no luck discovering how to get my Airport card to let me do WPA... SignatureSteve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama > > >> With recent system software, an original AirPort card can do WPA but not > > >> WPA2 or AES. Configure the Linksys to use PSK-Personal with TKIP [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > No problem here in 10.4.9. But still no luck discovering how to get my > Airport card to let me do WPA... Can you describe the symptoms when the AirPort card won't let you do WPA? In particular, what do you see when you display System Preferences->Network panel and select "AirPort" from the "Show" drop-down? When I select the AirPort tab my machine (with the original AirPort card) and choose "by default, join:" Preferred networks, I get a list of available networks and their associated security modes, some of which are "WPA Personal". choosing one of those and entering the proper password connect me to that network. SignatureTom Stiller PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3 7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF > Can you describe the symptoms when the AirPort card won't let you do > WPA? In particular, what do you see when you display System [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > which are "WPA Personal". choosing one of those and entering the proper > password connect me to that network. I've tried from the Network preferences pane, but I usually use the "Other..." item on the Airport Status menu. Either gives me the same choices. I've had my system set for Preferred Networks for quite some time, and there's normally only one system listed as I seldom go to places where others are accessible. I've only been able to use WEP 128-bit hex for the present, since all efforts thus far to use WPA have failed with error messages indicating that the encryption method is not supported. But your question leads me to wonder if perhaps I should try the PSK-Personal setting on my router and leave the SSID broadcast on to see if it shows up on my list. I've had SSID broadcast off for the longest time, since I discovered a passerby had jumped aboard a few years ago when I wasn't using security on a much earlier router. = Steve = SignatureSteve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama >>>> With recent system software, an original AirPort card can do WPA but not >>>> WPA2 or AES. Configure the Linksys to use PSK-Personal with TKIP [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > No problem here in 10.4.9. But still no luck discovering how to get my > Airport card to let me do WPA... While I did have some problems with 10.3.9 with an Airport Card and waking from sleep, that issue has been resolved; I have no problems with other machines running 10.4.9 with Airport Extreme cards. What settings do you have on your router? On my Linksys, I have a mixed network with wireless security set to "WPA Pre-Shared Key" and the WPA algorithm set to "TKIP" Then try making the settings on your Mac. SignatureGrandpa > What settings do you have on your router? On my Linksys, I have a > mixed network with wireless security set to "WPA Pre-Shared Key" and > the WPA algorithm set to "TKIP" Then try making the settings on your > Mac. As I indicated in an earlier message, my router is a brand new Linksys WRT150N and does not offer "WPA Pre-Shared Key" as a security option. It specifically offers "PSK Personal" and "PSK Enterprise" (and PSK2 counterparts). The Enterprise choices include the use of a RADIUS server, so they're clearly not for me. It's my understanding that the PSK offerings are supposed to be the same as if it said "WPA Pre-Shared Key"...but I'm not having luck yet, whether I use AES or TKIP encryption. = Steve = SignatureSteve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama > It's my understanding that the PSK offerings are supposed to be the same > as if it said "WPA Pre-Shared Key"...but I'm not having luck yet, > whether I use AES or TKIP encryption. You are correct. PSK Personal corresponds to WPA, and PSK2 Personal, to WPA2. Have you tried resetting the router to factory defaults and then reconfiguring the wireless connection from scratch to use WPA? In messing around with third-party firmware on routers lately, I've seen weird behavior, just like you're seeing, when it comes to wireless encryption. Resetting the router and starting from scratch, even though you end up with the same settings as before, sometimes clears these problems up. Perhaps the Linksys firmware shares this annoying characteristic. > > It's my understanding that the PSK offerings are supposed to be the same > > as if it said "WPA Pre-Shared Key"...but I'm not having luck yet, [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > problems up. Perhaps the Linksys firmware shares this annoying > characteristic. Well, that's an interesting thought, but...as I indicated when I initiated this thread, I just bought the router. So I did in fact take it out of the box with factory default settings and go from there. :-) = Steve = SignatureSteve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama |
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