I need to connect my work PC laptop to my home wirelss network based on my iMac. The PC sees the network (WEP password protected) but will not connect.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
How is the Mac connected to the network - via a router?
So you have setup a wifi hotspot on your mac, used the wifi card as a hotspot?
Why not just connect the work pc to your router with either a ethernet cable or wirelessly if it has a wireless side?
The iMac is connected by wire to cable modem.
The network uses built-in Airport in the iMac.
If you temporarily disable the wifi encryption to test, can you get the PC connected then? If you can, perhaps try changing the encryption method from WEP (which Macs don't like, apparently) and use WPA or WPA2 (preferred as it's more secure).
If the pc is fairly new and has windows 7 on it you have to use better security then wep. from what I remember both newer version of os x and windows will not connect to a wep secured wifi signal. It must be wpa or wpa2. Wep is so insecure that both os x and windows as stopped supporting it, if I recall correctly.
Anyway you should have a router between the modem and your computers. If your cable modem is only a modem, and most of them are just a modem with no router function, then your mac is actually part of the internet and getting a wide area network, Internet, ip address. That in itself is a very insecure way of having a home or work computer connected to the net.
Second that!
WEP WIFI encryption and direct connection of your iMac to cable modem is as insecure as it gets!!
WEP is a protocoll which is hackable and by connecting you iMac direct to a cable modem you give the whole internet direct access to you iMac.
If you want more help please give us a little more of your configuration.
What is the cable modems make and model no?
The best way for you setup would be:
Internet ->Modem->Router->iMac
->PC (via WIFI from router - WPA2)
Your modem could contain a router if you are lucky - otherwise get a router (Time capsule or Airport).
The time capsule also has a hardisk built in for Time Machine backups (you are backing up -right?)
The modem is Motorola SSBV5121 cable modem.
I don't know how to set up a WPA2 network. When I go to System Preferences/ Network, I have the option of requiring a password or not. When I select Require Password, I only have two options 40-bit WEP or 128-bit WEP.
If I select to not require a password, I still cannot connect with the PC.
The PC is new and is running Windows 7.
What happens, if at least temporarily, you have no password. Does that allow the PC to connect.
Are you sure you are running snow leopard 10.6.8 on the mac? That is what is listed in your first post. I am sure, athough I haven't checked, that snow leopard has more then WEP as a security option for making a wifi hotspot.
I'd fire up snow leopard on my mac notebook to check but I am doing a time machine backup right now.
But in the end you really need a router. It will solve all your problems and you won't have to use the mac as a wifi hotspot.
I edited my reply above indicating that I cannot connect even if the WEP does not require a password.
Selecting Advanced on the Network preferences gets me to other tabs: Airport, TCP/IP, DNS, WNS, 802.1Z, Proxies, and Ethernet. Under 802.1X there is a Security Type list from which I can choose either 802.1X WEP, WPA Enterprise, or WPA2 Enterprise, but I don't really know what to do with the other settings. For example, I must enter a User Profile before any of these options become available, and there are several authentication profiles to choose from.
I don't understand what you mean by "You won't have to use the Mac as a wifi hotspot." How will I connect to the internet wirelessly using the PC in my home?
If you've followed the process described here I'm stuck for ideas. Hopefully a networking wiz will spot this thread and have some suggestions:
http://osxdaily.com/2012/01/05/enable-internet-sharing-mac-os-x/
PC won't connect to iMac Airport wireless network
