Connecting Airport to Windows wireless network

The Muppet

Hi I am trying to connect my Mac Cube with osx to my Windows Wireless network. It works fine using the Airport configuration utility if i do not use encryption on the wireless network but If i enable encryption I can not connect and f i try to reconfigure using the utility it looks for a password.

As I type this it has just dawned on me that this could the encryption key it is looking for , Is that right ? If not I dont know where else to enter the key.
Help would be appreciated.

dub45

The Muppet wrote:

Hi I am trying to connect my Mac Cube with osx to my Windows Wireless network. It works fine using the Airport configuration utility if i do not use encryption on the wireless network but If i enable encryption I can not connect and f i try to reconfigure using the utility it looks for a password.

As I type this it has just dawned on me that this could the encryption key it is looking for , Is that right ? If not I dont know where else to enter the key.
Help would be appreciated.

What type of encryption are you using? It probably is the encrypton key that it is looking for. Have you set up a password or key on the router?

The Muppet

dub45 wrote:

What type of encryption are you using? It probably is the encrypton key that it is looking for. Have you set up a password or key on the router?

That was quick. I was using 128 bit encryption on the access point and couldn't connect. I turned off the encryption and it works fine. I would like to be able to have the encryption on for obvious reasons

The access point allows me to use a phrase to calculate the encryption key. I did type this phrase into the Mac Airport configuration utility when it asked for a password but it told me it was an incorrect password. Should I type in the actual key?

Thanks for the reply Dub45

dub45

The Muppet wrote:

That was quick. I was using 128 bit encryption on the access point and couldn't connect. I turned off the encryption and it works fine. I would like to be able to have the encryption on for obvious reasons

The access point allows me to use a phrase to calculate the encryption key. I did type this phrase into the Mac Airport configuration utility when it asked for a password but it told me it was an incorrect password. Should I type in the actual key?

Thanks for the reply Dubwireless

Yes you have to put in the key which is a bit of a nuisance as its not very easy to remember. If your router and network cards can do wpa you would be better to enable that as encryption as that uses a more orthodox password type word and is stronger. Another thing you can do once you get your encryption sorted out is to restrict access to the network based on the mac (nothing to do will Apple macs!) number of the wireless card in eac h computer.

Anyways osx certainly does wpa so check if you have the latest drivers for your wireless network cards on your windows pcs as most of them, especially if they are 'g' models will do wpa.

The Muppet

Thanks for the advice. I will try that. I hadn't thought of using the nic mac address to secure things . I will do that if all else fails

Thanks again

dub45

The Muppet wrote:

Thanks for the advice. I will try that. I hadn't thought of using the nic mac address to secure things . I will do that if all else fails

Thanks again

Most wireless routers will show you the mac addresses that are currently linked to the network and will allow you to restrict access to those - so turn all your computers on tick them on the access allowed and away you go!

flywheel

The Muppet wrote:

Hi I am trying to connect my Mac Cube with osx to my Windows Wireless network.

hi, when attempting to join a (non Apple) WEP enabled wireless network, when prompted you should have a choice of what type of password/security to enter using the Wireless Security drop down list - choosing the ASCII value should work for the 'regular looking' password, if not then you can resort to the HEX value (the default WEP Password option works when connection to an Apple WEP enabled airport network)

but as the other poster commented choose WPA if available and supported by your network equipment, initially WPA was only available with Airport Extreme, but was later supported on original Airport cards (like that used in internally in the Cube) with the release for Airport 3.2 software on OS X 10.3: details and requirements here

the best way to secure based on MAC address is to actually look them up on the client machines rather than adding all current connections - to rule out the possibility a stranger is connected already (anything is possible!) - to determine the MAC address on Windows you can open up a command prompt and type in ifconfig /all or see if it is available in the card's properties / configuration screens - on OS X you just open up the Network System Properties and select the main Airport screen looking for the Airport ID value

you should also think about changing the wireless network name (from default) and hiding it i.e. creating a closed network not broadcasting the SSID, using static addresses rather than DHCP, changing the default admin password, not allowing remote configuration (from the internet) and checking any driver or firmware updates that may be appropriate to keep things as secure as possible...

there are plenty of steps / tutorials about securing a home wireless network, googling for a recent one should help you out or i'll look up some bookmarks if you're stuck

p.s. i think you were mixing me up with the other poster!

.

dub45

DubWireless wrote:

hi, when attempting to join a (non Apple) WEP enabled wireless access point, when prompted you should have a choice of .............

there are plenty of steps / tutorials about securing a home wireless network, googling for a recent one should help you out or i'll look up some bookmarks if you're stuck
)

A 'gentle' intro here.

Apple Airport stuff here (thats a .pdf) and more generally loads here

The Muppet

DubWireless wrote:

p.s. i think you were mixing me up with the other poster!

.

I just noticed that, sorry and apologies to Dub 45 too. My brain must have been addled at the time trying to get this sorted. Thanks to both of you for the assistance and links I will go back at it later on.

Cheers