AEBS: Create a 64-bit WEP network? (to support old wireless printer)

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AEBS: Create a 64-bit WEP network? (to support old wireless printer)

Hi,

I find myself in a bit of a conundrum. I have an older laser printer with wireless support, but it only supports 802.11g/b, and it only supports 64-bit WEP. I know this is bad for security, but I'm reasonably isolated here, although I don't want to go without security entirely either.

Now that I have a Time Capsule, I can reuse my AEBS for this purpose, but I can't figure out how. The best I can seem to do is 128-bit WEP with a "password." What I really need to do is manually enter a 64-bit WEP key, but there seems to be no direct way to do that. I've messed around with Airport Utility 6.3.1 and 5.6, and I've tried various suggestions like putting the key in quotes, prepending a dollar sign, etc.

So I was wondering if anyone could help me out finding some indirect way to set this up. I know the AEBS can join a WEP64 network, but I need to create one.

Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks!

P.S. I have also thought about another alternative. If I understand correctly (but I'm not really sure about this) if I "extend" a network with the AEBS, I can basically turn it into a client, where I can connect wired devices to it to make them appear on the network. This way, I could effectively put the printer on the network with better security, connected by either Ethernet or USB. There are several reasons why I don't want to do that, but it might work. Yet another option is for me to dig out my old Linksys, but I don't know if it's possible to do this same extending thing. Any ideas?

Posted on Aug 6, 2013 12:03 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 6, 2013 12:45 PM in response to theosib

64bit wep is pretty well ancient and the new products no longer allow WEP which is correct.. even using WPA is not correct for N wireless let alone AC.. if you even could set WEP on the TC it would drag the whole network down to the speed and security of the printer.

If I understand correctly (but I'm not really sure about this) if I "extend" a network with the AEBS, I can basically turn it into a client, where I can connect wired devices to it to make them appear on the network.

This will work perfectly..

Yet another option is for me to dig out my old Linksys, but I don't know if it's possible to do this same extending thing. Any ideas?

You cannot extend using the Linksys.. but you can use it as a WAP with 64bit WEP plugged into the main router.. if it does not have bridging or WAP modes just use WAN bypass. In wan bypass you set the IP of the linksys to a value that is in the correct range but outside the dhcp scope of the router.. ie by default AE is set to 10.0.1.1 and the scope is 2-200.. set the Linksys to 10.0.1.201 and turn off the dhcp server. Update the linksys and plug LAN on the Linksys to LAN on the main router. Then you can access the linksys on the IP you set.. in a browser. 10.0.1.201 in my example. And setup the wireless anyhow you like.

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