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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / May 2008error message connecting to network
Does anyonw know what "there was an error connecting to the network. Try again" means please? I am getting this error message whenever connecting my Macbook, Ibook (airport extreme card) and PowerBook (airport card) to my WEP protected network. I am also getting it when connecting to a neighbour's open network. I don't get it all the time however. I only get it on certain open networks and as I say, always on my WEP protecte network. Needless to say, no 'Try Again' ever gives any different result. pressing the down arrow to scan for networks and trying to connect that way when one of these networks is shown throws up exactly the same error message. I have about a half dozen computers here and none of the non-Mac ones give any such error message. They all just connect or dont (if the signal is too weak). I have shown this to the Apple Genius bar. They got it when they tried to connect to their own Apple Store open network and (now) two or three of their geniuses have told me that they have never seen this error message before and they dont know what it means. Googling it just throws up the obvious answers that I am entering the password incorrectly which obviously isn't the case here. > Does anyonw know what "there was an error connecting to the network. Try > again" means please? I am getting this error message whenever connecting my [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Googling it just throws up the obvious answers that I am entering the > password incorrectly which obviously isn't the case here. What gets logged when you get the error? Cheers, Chris > What gets logged when you get the error? > > Cheers, > > Chris I didnt know that there was a log: Where is it, what format is it in (txt?) and I wonder why the Geniuses didnt know about it? > > What gets logged when you get the error? > > > I didnt know that there was a log: Where is it, what format is it in (txt?) > and I wonder why the Geniuses didnt know about it? Viewing Crash, Console, and System Logs 1. Open /Applications/Utilities/Console. 2. From the Console menu bar, select File > View System Log. 3. From the Console menu bar, select File > View Console Log. The system log will usually give you an indication as to what is causing startup issues. The console log can show issues you experience after you are logged into your user account. If a particular application is crashing, you may find a crash log in /Library/Logs/CrashReporter/ or /Users/you/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/. (Feel free to post the logs here if you need help understanding them. I'll be glad to take a look and tell you what I see.)  SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com >> > What gets logged when you get the error? >> > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > (Feel free to post the logs here if you need help understanding them. > I'll be glad to take a look and tell you what I see.) Many thanks for the offer but it seems that changing from WEP to WEP 64bit encryption cures this. I wonder why Apple hasnt cured this problem? BTW: Assuming you have WEP as opposed to WPA and arent using 128 bit encryption, is there any difference between entering a WEP key and having 64 bit encryption? > it seems that changing from WEP to WEP 64bit > encryption cures this. I wonder why Apple hasnt cured this problem? What problem? If your router doesn't support anything but WEP 64-bit, then I don't see how it's Apple's fault if you cannot connect with other WEP settings. > BTW: Assuming you have WEP as opposed to WPA and arent using 128 bit > encryption, is there any difference between entering a WEP key and having 64 > bit encryption? I'm not sure I understand the question. If you are asking if there is a difference between 128-bit and 64-bit encryption, then yes, there's a big difference. As you may know, neither are as secure as WPA. WEP is easily cracked, regardless of the number of bits of encryption. So if I were you, I'd give serious consideration to upgrading that router. SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com In comp.sys.mac.system news.rcn.com <fountainpen@amexol.net> wrote: > Many thanks for the offer but it seems that changing from WEP to WEP 64bit > encryption cures this. I wonder why Apple hasnt cured this problem? Apple has fixed it in their current hardware and firmware for older stuff they still support. This will give you an idea of the problem - http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108058 although there are/were some other compatibility issues, too. > BTW: Assuming you have WEP as opposed to WPA and arent using 128 bit > encryption, is there any difference between entering a WEP key and having > 64 bit encryption? WEP keys can be two lengths. 40/64 bits or 104/128 bits. The 24 bit difference in each case is because 24 bits of the key come from a place that the user can not set or change. NB that 40 bits is 5 bytes and 104 bits is 13 bytes, which will make sense to you after reading the above web page. WEP is also very easily cracked. Easy means within a few minutes with readily available tools. The key length does not mean much in that respect. WEP is better than nothing, but WPA is harder to crack - if one uses an adequately long pass phrase, that is. Here is how to choose wisely - http://diceware.com/ http://world.std.com/%7Ereinhold/airport.html Billy Y.. > WEP is also very easily cracked. Easy means within a few minutes with > readily available tools. The key length does not mean much in that > respect. WEP is better than nothing, but WPA is harder to crack - > if one uses an adequately long pass phrase, that is. Here is how to > choose wisely - If someone sits a modern computer in range of your network and trys to monitor enough traffic to "crack" your keys, it can be done no matter what protection you use. The more sophisticated the encryption the longer it takes, the faster the computer and the more traffic on your network, the quicker it can be done. As you say, WEP is better than nothing and in most cases is enough. It will force someone driving by looking for an open network to keep driving, or a neighbor from accidently connecting to your network, or you from accidently roaming onto someone else's network in a "dead spot". It seems like unencrypted networks that do not use authorization, or even unique SSID's are common everywhere. Changing the SSID and administrative password, using any encryption, helps keep your network secure. Reducing output power to limit coverage is often overlooked, but really helps. Do you need to have a useable signal outside of your home/office? Geoff. SignatureGeoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM >> WEP is also very easily cracked. Easy means within a few minutes with >> readily available tools. The key length does not mean much in that [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > to monitor enough traffic to "crack" your keys, it can be done no matter > what protection you use. What programs can they use to crack a WEP encrypted network and is there some way of monitoring when someone is doing this or when that program is running on/into my network? (I HAVE read The Geek Gap by Bill Pfleging and Minda Zetlin) As important, is there some way of telling when someone is doing this on my DD-WRT network? Besides noting when and who is stated to be a 'client' on your network? If I live on a 17h floor is there a major worry here if i am in a sufficiently affluent building to not worry about something like this? I know that my wife has a cousin who lives in what he seems to think is a startlingly dangerous neighborhood of Boston and who worries perennially about his schlepper neighours cracking his network!! LASTLY I know people here seemingly won't like this but here goes: So long as bandwidth isn't compromised, why should I care who uses my network if my own computer/computers/network is sufficiently adequately protected? Isnt that what the Net is all about? > The more sophisticated the encryption the longer > it takes, the faster the computer and the more traffic on your network, [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Geoff. In comp.sys.mac.system news.rcn.com <fountainpen@amexol.net> wrote: > What programs can they use to crack a WEP encrypted network There are several approaches. Here is one that's relatively easy for most people to understand - How To Crack WEP - Part 1: Setup & Network Recon http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/24244/98/ How To Crack WEP - Part 2: Performing the Crack http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/24242/98/ WEP Cracking...Reloaded [an update to the above two] http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30114/98/ And, just so no one feels left behiind, WPA - How To Crack WPA / WPA2 http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30278/98/ > and is there > some way of monitoring when someone is doing this or when that program is > running on/into my network? Mostly likely not. Some impatient people may generate some traffic (activity) to speed things up, but you may not be able to see that. > As important, is there some way of telling when someone is doing this on my > DD-WRT network? Besides noting when and who is stated to be a 'client' on > your network? Not if traffic is just being passively monitored (received), no. > If I live on a 17h floor is there a major worry here if i am in a > sufficiently affluent building to not worry about something like this? The risk should be evaluated by the value of your data to a third party. For instance, if you were Eliot Spitzer browsing the Emperors Clus web site, your risk would have been sky high despite living in an expensive apartment. If you want real security, use a VPN (virtual private network). > LASTLY I know people here seemingly won't like this but here goes: So long > as bandwidth isn't compromised, why should I care who uses my network if my > own computer/computers/network is sufficiently adequately protected? That would depend on what they do with it. There are some things which would get you into trouble. > Isnt that what the Net is all about? Sadly, not any more. Billy Y.. > In comp.sys.mac.system news.rcn.com <fountainpen@amexol.net> wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > How To Crack WPA / WPA2 > http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30278/98/ Hi Billy I was looking over this message again and the links and suddenly I found something of even more signiificant interest than which of my comparatively afffluent neighbours is trying to crack my network: Some crook on craigslist once sold me a SIP which apparently he had in a batch stolen from a VoIP company. I cant find out which (the manufacturer wont tell me) but Paypal certainly wouldnt assist me in preventing him from selling things on craigslist again. So I am stuck with a SIP which is locked into some unknown VoIP provider. With your reference I appear to be able to (easily?) crack the code on this, my hitherto useless SIP instead of gnashing my teeth at being sold a piece of junk! >> and is there >> some way of monitoring when someone is doing this or when that program is [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > Billy Y.. > LASTLY I know people here seemingly won't like this but here goes: > So long as bandwidth isn't compromised, why should I care who uses my > network if my own computer/computers/network is sufficiently > adequately protected? It might be a violation of your contract with your broadband provider. SignatureSupport the troops: Bring them home ASAP. > > What gets logged when you get the error? > > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I didnt know that there was a log: Where is it, what format is it in (txt?) > and I wonder why the Geniuses didnt know about it? Go into the Applications->Utilities folder and double-click the "console" icon. This will bring up a tool that allows you to see all of the console logs. Do that and then try to connect again while the main console window is open and tell us what errors you see. In comp.sys.mac.system news.rcn.com <fountainpen@amexol.net> wrote: > Does anyonw know what "there was an error connecting to the network. Try > again" means please? Yes, it is not a very informative error message. I have found, in my case, anyway, that it means the wrong encryption protocol was tried. In other words WPA instead of WEP, etc. Most times just turning the airport off and back on from the menu bar on the notebook computer will clear this up. Once in a while it takes turning it off, restarting the computer, then turning it back on. Or, you can try intentionally select an incorrect protocol, let it fail, then select the correct one, and that sometimes works. The basic concept being to get it un-stuck from whatever protocol is has become stuck on. > Needless to say, no 'Try Again' ever gives any different result. Yep... > Googling it just throws up the obvious answers that I am entering the > password incorrectly which obviously isn't the case here. No, it's a bug. Billy Y.. > Does anyonw know what "there was an error connecting to the network. Try > again" means please? It means it's time to open up Console.app, look at system.log and get a better and more informative error message. -Usually- it means something like putting in the wrong password, choosing WEP when it's WPA, sometimes even MAC address filtering depending on what you're trying to connect to...that kind of thing. But it's quickest to get more information by looking at system.log in Console. Cheers, Ian On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 13:59:36 +0000, news.rcn.com wrote > Does anyonw know what "there was an error connecting to the network. Try > again" means please? I am getting this error message whenever connecting my > Macbook, Ibook (airport extreme card) and PowerBook (airport card) to my WEP > protected network. I am also getting it when connecting to a neighbour's > open network. I don't get it all the time however. I only get it on certain > open networks and as I say, always on my WEP protecte network. About once a month, I get it on my MacBook. If I reboot the wireless router, the MB then connects automatically and everything's then ok "Stimpy" <stimpy1997uk@yahoo.com> wrote in message > About once a month, I get it on my MacBook. If I reboot the wireless > router, > the MB then connects automatically and everything's then ok That is not so easy in my case: I have the router which is giving the problems set up as a promiscuous repeater under DD-WRT and the instructions as to what you can and cant do under this system are sparse in the extreme. only this evening I was trying to figure out how to tell which avaliable network it is connected to. (my own RCN one is too unreliable to make the repeater connect to it. This way, either the computer connects to my router and straight to RCN or it connects to the repeater and gets a signal from 'somewhere') |
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