WEP on Airport Extreme Guest network

Just a guess, but with WEP being just about as unsecured as no encryption at all, might be a reason Apple designed the Guest network to use the WPA & WPA2 encryption standards which incorporate much stronger encryption protocols.

You bring up a good point and got me to double-check a few settings to confirm that any form of WEP (40-bit, 128-bit, or Transitional) is just not provided for the Guest network ... regardless of which Radio Mode or Encryption setting used on the Main network.

I think, little by little, most network equipment manufacturers are going to drop support for WEP altogether ... so (like a classic car) keeping our older network gear running [WEP] is going to be a more and more costly endeavor. I'm sure a fair number of those same manufacturers would be happy to provide you with a WPA/WPA2-capable wireless USB adapter for your "vintage" Mac. 😉

So why does ALL of the literature that came with my 1TB Time Capsule still list WEP in the specs? Even Apple's web site <http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/specs.html> as of today states:

+Wireless security (WEP) configurable for 40-bit and 128-bit encryption+

And I doubt there is a card solution for my kids' Nintendo DSs which can only use WEP.

So am I missing something - does it just automatically default to WEP if the device trying to connect wants to use it?

Welcome to the discussion area, George!

I think Apple may hide WEP settings because they may not want you to use them. You have to dig a bit to find the settings, and make some compromises because WEP cannot be used on 5 GHz and some "n" only settings, but there are options available.

Open AirPort Utility - Click Manual Setup

Click the Wireless tab below the row of icons

Hold down the option key on your Mac as you click on the Radio Mode selection box. There are 2 Radio Mode settings will allow WEP 40 and WEP 128 encryption to be used. They are:

802.11a - 802.11b/g
802.11a - 802.11b

If you select one of these modes, again hold down the option key as you click on the Wireless Security selection box and you will see WEP 40 bit and WEP 128 bit as choices for security.

You may also be able to use the WEP Transitional security setting. In theory, this will allow you to use far more Radio Mode options. WEP Transitional is designed to allow WPA devices to connect using WPA and WEP devices to connect using WEP. You can find more info about this in this Apple Support Document.