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Wireless Security
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Posted by dee_can (My Page) on Tue, Sep 16, 08 at 13:09
| I just bought a new laptop, and have a network set up between that and my desktop. So today, I reconfigured the router settings to WPA instead of WEP, but when I tried to connect to the network with my laptop, the msg said my settings didn't match the router settings.
So I phoned D-Link, and they told me my computer (I assume my desktop since it's older) isn't enabled for WPA. Any ideas? Is it possible to make my old computer WPA compatible (or however that goes)? Thanks for any suggestions. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Wireless Security
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| WPA is the desired encryption method if all your WIRELESS devices support it. [WEP is a basic encryption method, which is not as secure as WPA and used only if an older device can not support WPA]. The router will use the WPA encryption to communicate with your wireless devices such as your laptop, PDA, or PlayStation3. Once you enter your router security setting (key, SSID etc) you must enter these same setting into the WPA Security fields for each wireless device so they can talk back and forth. Your desktop should not be affected if it is hardwired. |
RE: Wireless Security
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| Thanks very much. Hmm, so it's not my desktop that is the problem then? Would it be odd for a new laptop to not support WPA? And if that isn't the problem, then how do I enter the WPA info/settings into my laptop after I setup the router for WPA? I couldn't figure that out. |
RE: Wireless Security
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RE: Wireless Security
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| I think perhaps you misunderstood what the person at D-Link was saying. Being "enabled" does not mean "compatible". I think in this case it meant that you do not have the laptop configured (enabled) correctly for your WPA security. Read and follow the links that ravencajun gave above, and I'll be you'll be up and running in no time. |
RE: Wireless Security
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| Thank you raven and grandms. Grandms, You are correct, that my laptop is not configured for WPA. (In fact I found that out last night.) I was under the assumption then that if I'm only configured for WEP, I'm out of luck. I haven't looked at raven's links yet, because I just read your msgs; but somewhere in there it will tell me how to configure my laptop for WPA? Am I understanding that correctly? Or am I stuck with WEP only? Thanks again. |
RE: Wireless Security
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| WPA has been around for some time now, so your laptop probably is able to use it and it is just a matter of configuring the wireless connection to use WPA with the same settings as the router. |
RE: Wireless Security
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| The manual says it's only enabled for WEP. And I don't know how to configure it to be WPA. Thank you. |
RE: Wireless Security
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| The manual for the laptop says it's only enabled for WEP? If that's the case, you won't be able to use WPA unless you buy a new wireless card. The easiest kind to get is a USB version, since there are a couple of different kinds of cards for laptops. |
RE: Wireless Security
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| If this is a brand new laptop, I cannot imagine that you cannot use WPA on it. Have you read all the links ravencajun gave? I'm sure if you follow those instructions, you'll be able to get things set up with good security. You mentioned a D-Link router. Aren't there complete instructions with it for setting up WPA security? My laptop is two years old, and when I did my setup I had very little trouble. Just take your time and keep at it, and I do believe you'll be able to achieve your goal. |
RE: Wireless Security
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| ok simple question just what is the make and model of the laptop? there are lots of us here that can google the info and find out if it is WPA capable which I can not imagine a new laptop NOT being. I gave step by step directions in links. then what make and model is your d link router? what make and model are any other pcs you want on the wireless? all it takes is some googling! |
RE: Wireless Security
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| It's unbelievable to me that a new laptop is only enabled for WEP,too! It's a Toshiba Satellite A300. D-Link router model WBR-1310. I have absolutely no problems setting up the router to WPA settings - I did that fine. It's when I went to open the connection on my laptop, that it said the settings didn't match the router. So, I looked through the manual later, and indeed it says my laptop is configured for WEP. So, no joy. And yes, I read through the links, but I'm not getting where I can change what's in my computer... Are wireless cards expensive? |
RE: Wireless Security
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| Mission accomplished. I reset everything, and tried it again. It worked. Thanks for your responses. *blush* |
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