I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I used
128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.

My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a good
time to upgrade to Windows XP.

I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window. However,
(correctly) according to windows the router is WEP-encrypted. But for some
reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get a Windows message saying that it
has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key and can only be a certain number of ascii
characters.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
Schiz

"Schizoid Man" wrote in message

I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I
used 128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.

My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a
good time to upgrade to Windows XP.

I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
However, (correctly) according to windows the router is
WEP-encrypted. But for some reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get
a Windows message saying that it has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key
and can only be a certain number of ascii characters.

Any ideas?

Yes, this error message generally means that you entered the wrong number of
characters.

What are you using to enter the passphrase? If it is not the Linksys
app(i.e., windows' wireless management app), you probably need to enter the
_encryption key_, not the passphrase (the passphrase is used to generate the
key).

"Schizoid Man" wrote in message
...
I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I used
128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.

My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a good
time to upgrade to Windows XP.

I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
However,
(correctly) according to windows the router is WEP-encrypted. But for some
reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get a Windows message saying that it
has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key and can only be a certain number of
ascii
characters.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
Schiz

"Schizoid Man" wrote in message
...
I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I used
128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.

My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a good
time to upgrade to Windows XP.

I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
However,
(correctly) according to windows the router is WEP-encrypted. But for
some
reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get a Windows message saying that
it
has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key and can only be a certain number of
ascii
characters.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
Schiz


"jw" wrote in message
news:GiOhd.3080$fw2.120@trndny01...
What are you using to enter the passphrase? If it is not the Linksys
app(i.e., windows' wireless management app), you probably need to enter
the
_encryption key_, not the passphrase (the passphrase is used to generate
the
key).

You're right. I was using the Windows XP to enter the passphrase. However,
according to some research I have done, XP does not accept a passphrase in
lieu of an encryption key.

Problem is, how do I generate the encryption key?

"Schizoid Man" wrote in message
...

"Schizoid Man" wrote in message
...
I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B router. When I installed it, I
used
128-bit WEP compression on it and saved a passphrase.

My laptop's OS crashed a couple of weeks ago and I figured it was a
good
time to upgrade to Windows XP.

I can see my router from the 'Available Wireless Networks' window.
However,
(correctly) according to windows the router is WEP-encrypted. But for
some
reason, when I enter my passphrase, I get a Windows message saying
that
it
has to be a 40-bit or 128-bit key and can only be a certain number of
ascii
characters.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
Schiz


"jw" wrote in message
news:GiOhd.3080$fw2.120@trndny01...
What are you using to enter the passphrase? If it is not the Linksys
app(i.e., windows' wireless management app), you probably need to enter
the
_encryption key_, not the passphrase (the passphrase is used to generate
the
key).

You're right. I was using the Windows XP to enter the passphrase. However,
according to some research I have done, XP does not accept a passphrase in
lieu of an encryption key.

Problem is, how do I generate the encryption key?


Go back to the wap (usually 192.168.1.1) and look at the key. Cut and paste
is easiest, assumming you can get an ethernet connection to the wap from
your laptop. Otherwise, you'll have to write and type :^)