Problem connecting to Airport with WEP security

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Problem connecting to Airport with WEP security

Hello...first time poster here. I've searched high and low on the Internet to find the answer to my problem and have come up with nothing: hopefully I can get an answer by coming straight to the source. I have an iBook G3 running OS X 10.4.11 and I'm having a devil of a time getting it to stay connected to my Airport Extreme. The Airport is currently configured to use WEP protection, but my iBook will not automatically connect to it despite being the only router in my preferred networks in the Network settings. My Airport is visible if I manually click on the Airport symbol at the top of the taskbar, but when I select it and the dialogue box appears for me to input my password, the only encryption option available is WPA Personal: when I input the correct password using these settings, I get the message "There was an error connecting to the network." However, if I use the "Other" option in the Airport symbol, the dialogue box gives me the option of changing the encryption type to WEP, WPA or other selections. Unfortunately, this method does not allow me to save the password in my keychain, which makes automatic connection impossible. I should add that if I switch the Airport encryption option using Airport Utility to WPA/WPA2 Personal, the airport connects automatically just fine: however, since I often boot the iBook into Mac OS 9 for older software, the WPA encryption prevents an Internet connection in that environment. I'm sure there is a way for both my OS 9 system and my OS X system to both have fully functional, automatically connecting Airport connections: if someone could help me do this, it would be extremely helpful. Thank you in advance for your help and attention to this extremely frustrating matter.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Apr 3, 2011 12:20 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 3, 2011 1:13 AM in response to Trchavez416

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.

Check out this AirPort Quick Assist article, and see if anything there helps you:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1145?viewlocale=en_US

There are links there for other troubleshooting measures, too.

Please let us know how things go.

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Answer 2

Trchavez416 Author

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Apr 3, 2011 1:37 PM in response to Ronda Wilson

Good afternoon, Ronda. Thank you for the prompt response. Unfortunately, nothing in the linked article or supporting links provided me with much help: I have already tried deleting and readding the network to my preferred networks, repairing permissions, and manually adding a keychain item for the wireless via Keychain Access. No matter why I try, the iBook will not stay connected to my airport after a restart, log out or wake from sleep, and I have to manually enter in my SSID and WEP password each time I log in to the machine. Again, I can use Airport Utility to change the encryption type to WPA Personal and the problem goes away: however, this makes using OS 9 Classic in its natural environment impossible. This leads me to believe there is some sort of malfunction (either with the OS, the iBook itself, or the Airport. What is the next thing I can try? Please help: I'm going crazy trying to fix this problem! Thank you again for you assistance.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

238,985 points

Apr 3, 2011 3:15 PM in response to Trchavez416

Hi Trchavez416, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

The great Ronda asked for help here, I hope we can.

Great work so far, you've done many thing I would've suggested so far, next would be...

Open Keychain Access in Utilities, use Keychain First Aid under the Keychain Menu item.

Resetting your keychain in Mac OS X...

If Keychain First Aid finds an issue that it cannot repair, or if you do not know your keychain password, you may need to reset your keychain.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1544

Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), use Disk Utility from there to Repair Permissions, move these files to the Desktop.

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.networkConnect.<12 digit number>.plist

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.internetconnect.plist

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist

(You'll need to Trash the originals of these following ones since move only copies them)

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sharing.firewall.plist

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkConfig.plist

Then reboot once more.

PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.

If still not working, next...

Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712

The Interface that connects to the Internet, needs to be drug to the top of System Preferences>Network>Show:>Network Port Configurations and checked ON.

10.5.x/10.6.x instructions...

System Preferences>Network, click on the little gear at the bottom next to the + & - icons, (unlock lock first if locked), choose Set Service Order.

Then there's a really strange problem where either Keychain cannot read itself, or sometimes cannot update itself.

Keychain is no longer able to update itself when I upgrade an application...

http://unsanity.org/archives/2007_01.php

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Answer 4

Trchavez416 Author

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Apr 4, 2011 7:23 PM in response to BDAqua

Good evening, BDAqua, and thank you very much for the warm welcome. I appreciate any and all the assistance I can get: I know that these little glitches and bugs can be incredibly more complex than they seem. In any case, unbelievably, I'm still out of luck: all of the potential fixes you mentioned in your post were unsuccessful in solving my AirPort problem. I used Keychain First Aid, reset my keychain, repaired permissions while in Safe Mode (and Trashed the listed .plist files), created a New Location for my Network settings, and even tried that strange Keychain reset fix listed on the final link given: none of them made the slightest change to my AirPort issue. On a whim, I reset my AirPort back to factory default settings and setup the router as I had it before, only WITHOUT any encryption to connect to it. As expected, my iBook was able to see and connect to my router without any problems, and was still connected after waking from sleep, logging out and restarting; also as expected, once I setup the AirPort with WEP encryption, the iBook started to give me problems. I think I have safely ruled out the AirPort itself and any OS bug (as I had just done a clean reinstall of OS 9 and then OS X 10.4 after), so might the problem be with the AirPort card itself? I've verified that it is properly seated inside the iBook, so I don't know what else to test on it. Let me know what the next step would be to try and solve this issue. Thanks!

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

238,985 points

Apr 4, 2011 7:42 PM in response to Trchavez416

There was a firmware upgrade for the original Airport card, did you ever get that?

Another quirk about the old Airport card is that sometimes a WEP ASCII PW would require quote marks like...

"PaSwD"

If hex it might require a Dollar Sign in front of it, like...

$a0ee32f91b

Is the PW 5 or 13 ASCII or 10 or 26 HEX in length?

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Answer 6

Apr 4, 2011 9:09 PM in response to Trchavez416

I would not expect this to make a difference in your situation, but for future reference, Repair Permissions should be run when booted normally; it should not be run when booted in Safe Mode.

You may have already tried all these steps, but here is the Apple Knowledge Base article with troubleshooting tips:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1145?viewlocale=en_US

There is some advice from iFelix here which may be helpful:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2999458#2999458

In case you don't have the updated AirPort software, that download can be found here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1219?viewlocale=en_US

(This update may have been included in the upgrade to Mac OS X 10.4.)

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Answer 7

Trchavez416 Author

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Apr 5, 2011 8:34 AM in response to BDAqua

I don't remember Software Update ever mentioning anything about a firmware update for the AirPort card, but I might be forgetting. This is the info I got from system Profiler about my card:

Wireless Card Type: AirPort
Wireless Card Locale: USA
Wireless Card Firmware Version: 9.52
Current Wireless Network: 8321
Wireless Channel: 6

I'm not sure if that is the latest firmware version for my AirPort card; if not, where would I download the newer version and how would I install it? Is it a similar process to the Bluetooth and EMI firmware updates?

In any case, as is evident from the info listed above, I took my iBook to work and I am able to connect to my work's wireless network without problems (which is encrypted with a 26 digit, 128-bit WEP hex key), and it stays connected after log out, restart and wake from sleep. This was the particularly befuddling part: obviously, the card has no issue connecting to WEP networks, but it won't stay connected to mine. As far as I know, my AirPort Extreme is set up as just a regular WEP password: I believe it's a 13-digit ASCII, but the AirPort Utility never gave me the option of setting up the security of the WEP to anything other than the default encryption (whatever that is). Could the issue be an improper setup on my part of the AirPort's encryption? How would I change the WEP settings to a 26-digit hex key, for example? Thanks for all the assistance!

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Answer 8

BDAqua

Level 10

238,985 points

Apr 5, 2011 12:51 PM in response to Trchavez416

Sounds like it has the latest Firmware.

Not sure which Airport you have, but do you see this setting?

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Answer 9

Trchavez416 Author

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Apr 6, 2011 11:14 PM in response to BDAqua

I have one of the "flat" AirPort Extreme models: I believe it was the first generation of that model, right before Apple introduced their Time Capsule product. The serial number for my AirPort is 6F7162FYVZC. In any case, I don't have the different WEP security options in my AirPort utility program. The options I have for wireless security are as follows:

None
WEP (Transitional Security Network)
WPA/WPA2 Personal
WPA2 Personal
WPA/WPA2 Enterprise
WPA2 Enterprise

I am running AirPort Utility version 5.5.2, and my AirPort Extreme is running with firmware version 7.5.2, so I believe I am up to date with all the software. It seems like we're getting closer to the real issue...then again, it could be just wishful thinking on my part. 🙂

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Answer 10

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,966 points

Apr 7, 2011 12:21 AM in response to Trchavez416

You may have to consider the purchase of an older model AirPort base station
for use with the vintage iBook G3 computer, instead of the more recent AEBS.

I was able to use a dual USB white 500MHz iBook G3 with original AirPort card
with the AirPort Extreme base station (set to support 802.11/b/g) even on dial-up
and without issue; I configured that base station via a B&W G3 tower and an
Ethernet cable. So, both computers could use the orb-model AirPort Extreme &
shared a dial-up connection. This base also worked well with an ADSL upgrade.

The older AirPort Express (802.11/b/g) also works well with older G3/G4 portables.
And, it may be best if an older base station is set up by Ethernet first, and by the
older computer to be used with the base station. There sometimes is a difference.

So, perhaps if you had one of these models and set up a second base station just
to support the older computer, you could do OK without compromising the newer
computer's online security via its newer base station, set at a higher security level.

Just a few ideas; since others have noted a problem connecting older vintage
hardware to a newer network configuration with higher security settings.

Some of the older computers just act stubborn;
or maybe they're really not pretending...

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

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Answer 11

BDAqua

Level 10

238,985 points

Apr 7, 2011 9:39 AM in response to Trchavez416

Hmmm, does this Airport have 802.11n on it?

If so I think there's a setting to name a separate Network SSID for 802.11b/g computers.

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Answer 12

Trchavez416 Author

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Apr 7, 2011 4:33 PM in response to BDAqua

The AirPort Radio Mode settings I have available are as follows:

802.11n (802.11b/g compatible)
802.11n only (2.4 GHz)
802.11n (802.11a compatible)
802.11n only (5 GHz)

I haven't attempt to change this setting at all: it is currently set as the first option, which I assume is the factory default. Should I try to change the radio mode to another frequency?

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Answer 13

BDAqua

Level 10

238,985 points

Apr 7, 2011 6:54 PM in response to Trchavez416

The first one must be right, b/g uses the 2.4GHz spectrum. I can't find the reference to the setting I was thinking of, but there's someway to have a separate SSID for b/g than the n network.

One thing I forgot, Also, turn OFF IPv6on your iBook...

System Preferences » Network » AirPort » TCP/IP tab » Configure IPv6

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Answer 14

Trchavez416 Author

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Apr 12, 2011 11:04 PM in response to BDAqua

IPv6 was indeed active on my iBook, but I turned it off and restarted to no avail. What would the next step be? In response to another poster's comment, I do indeed have an older AirPort model that I keep in storage, but I replaced it with the newer model due to its constant hiccups in broadcasting: I would have to restart the old AirPort almost every two hours because it would suddenly stop sending the wireless signal.
One other thought also occured to me if we can't resolve this strange issue: instead of me having to manually enter in the SSID and WEP password for my AirPort every time, is there an AppleScript I could write to connect me automatically? How would I learn how to write and compile said script? Just trying to think outside the box to (somewhat) fix this problem.

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Answer 15

BDAqua

Level 10

238,985 points

Jun 3, 2011 1:28 AM in response to Trchavez416

Sorry, I lost track of this but maybe...

Go to System Preferences

Click Network

Highlight AirPort and click Configure...

Choose “By default, join: Preferred networks”

Select your access point and Remove your access point with the minus ➖ button.

Launch your keychain access in Utilities and delete your access point keychain entry.

Reboot

Go back to the “By default, join:” page and click the plus ➕ this time to add your access point. Enter the correct password, save, reboot.

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