Re: connected to access point but no internet found

On Mon, 26 Jun 2006 18:33:14 GMT, "glenn" <lunaqua@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Jeff Liebermann" <jeffl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:p9eu929maaa1q8o4amnq6o81di38qqhacp@xxxxxxxxxx
"glenn" <lunaqua@xxxxxxxxx> hath wroth:

We have the correct password, we enter it using both 64-bit and 128-bit
encryption, we watch closely to use the correct case for the letters.

WEP has a problem converting from ASCII to Hexadecimal. There are two
(or more) algorithms for converting from ASCII to Hex. Windoze only
supports one of these. If you use the Hex key, it should always work.
Yes, I know that nobody likes to type 26 Hex characters.

"Two (or more) algorithms"?? - that sounds pretty nuts, Jeff. You mean you
can get different hex keys from the exact same passphrase depending on
a version of WEP you have??

Exactly. The actual WEP key is in Hex. The access points and client
software make it easy for users to "generate" a Hex key by providing a
function that converts an ASCII text key into Hex. The problem is
that since this is nowhere to be found in IEEE 802.11 specifications,
they did it any old way they thought was interesting. The results are
not consistent. There are two ASCII to Hex conversion algorithms that
I know about, and I may have identified one more creative algorithm.
When Windoze Wireless Zero Config asks for an encryption key, it goes
through all the possible algorithms and protocols that it knows about
until it finds a successful match. Unfortunately, it only supports
one of the two ASCII to Hex conversion schemes. I haven't spent any
time figuring out which manufactories and models support which
algorithm. Don't assume that it's consistent among products from a
given manufactory.

Sample code:
http://www.wigle.net/jigle/wep.pl

-- or is it because of a bug?

Not really a bug since there's no standard way of converting from
ASCII to Hex. However, the problem has been known for at least 8
years, and none of the manufactories appear interested in either
fixing or documenting the problem.

I've passed this info to my friend and told her to try the hex key directly
(getting it from someone who can log on ok). We'll see if that's it.

It should work (famous last words).

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 jeffl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
# http://802.11junk.com jeffl@xxxxxxxxxx
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS
.

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