Wireless network key length
I have an att router that requires a 10 digit network key. My wireless properties for the 2wire091 (SSID) seems to remember only 8 digits.Is there a way to increase the numerical length of this required input to 10 digits?Thanks.1 person needs an answerI do too
March 11th, 2010 7:28pm

You are choosing the wrong flavor of encryption on your wireless adapter and you've got your wireless terms mixed up. In any case you are using WEP which is almost as bad as using no encryption at all and you don't want to do this. The AT&T routers can be set to better encryption (WPA or WPA2 Personal). Here is information about setting up your wireless network securely: Have a computer connected to the router with an ethernet cable. Examples given are for a Linksys router. Refer to your router manual or the router mftr.'s website for default settings if you don't have a Linksys. Open a browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox and in the addressbar type: http://192.168.1.1 [enter] (this is the router's default IP address, which varies from router to router so check your manual) This will bring you to router's login screen. The default username is left blank and the Linksys default password is "admin" without the quotes. Enter that information. You are now in the router's configuration utility. Your configuration utility may differ slightly from mine. The first thing to do is change the default password because *everyone* knows the default passwords for various routers. Click on the Administration link at the top of the page. Enter your new password. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT . Re-enter the password to confirm it and click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page. The router will restart and present you with the login box again. Leave the username blank and put in your new password to get back into the configuration utility. Now click on the Wireless link at the top of the page. Change the Wireless Network Name (SSID) from the default to something you will recognize. I suggest that my clients not use their family name as the SSID. For example, you might wish to name your wireless network "CastleAnthrax" or the like. ;-) Click the Save Settings and when you get the prompt that your changes were successful, click on the Wireless Security link which is right next to the Basic Wireless Settings link (where you changed your SSID). Most computers purchased within the last 4 years have wireless hardware that will support WPA2-Personal (also called WPA2-PSK). This is the encryption level you want. If your wireless hardware is older, use WPA. Do not use WEP as that is easily cracked within minutes. So go ahead and set the Security Mode to WPA2-Personal. Do that and enter a passphrase. For example, you might use the passphrase, "Here be dragons, beware you scurvy dogs!". The passphrase is what you will enter on any computers that are allowed to connect to the wireless network. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT . At this point, your router is configured and if the computer you were using to configure the router is normally going to connect wirelessly, disconnect the ethernet cable and the computer's wireless feature should see your new network. Enter the passphrase you created (exactly as you wrote it with all capitalization and punctuation) to join the network and start surfing. MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
March 12th, 2010 4:15pm

Malkeleah,Thanks for the info. Yeah I've been in the router before checking the settings for setting up a print server. Anyhow I checked the wireless settings. It does use the WPA-PSK and I didn't have any trouble with a new HP laptop I just set up. It looks like my older laptop use just WEP. The router could be set to WEP but I like you say I guess one shouldn't use that. The wireless cad is a WNC 802.11b USB300. So I don't know if that's the problem or the Windows program. Are there any utility programs out there as an alternative?Thanks.
March 13th, 2010 10:35pm

You should just buy a USB wireless adapter for the old laptop which can do WPA-PSK and disable/remove the old one. The ability to do advanced encryption comes from the adapter drivers, not Windows. MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
March 14th, 2010 3:36am

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