WEP question

cybermage · 02-19-03, 01:11 PM

Last week I ordered 5 Axim 400 X5's. Today I got the 128 MB memory upgrades, but no X5's. I'm surprised they split the shipment that way! Still waiting...

Anyway, my question is this: I see a lot of posts on the 'net about people using their Axim both at work and home on wireless networks, but nobody mentions about using encryption...

Is it possible to configure these with two different encryption keys and have it automatically detect what WAP router I'm nearby and use that key? Or will I have to manually swith a setting every day when I go home from work to be able to use my different settings at home?

02-19-03, 02:06 PM

I think it depends on the WiFi Card. The software isn't built into the OS. My Netgear card seems to keep the WAP settings...

Rob Borek · 02-19-03, 02:23 PM

Keep more than 1 set of WEP keys? Yes. Automatically switch? I don't think any of the drivers for Pocket PC WLAN cards have this ability (I'm not sure if desktop drivers have this ability either).

pmoto · 02-20-03, 09:29 AM

I have a Linksys WCF12 and use WEP. Although I have no need to have multiple sets of WEP keys I don't think it would be a problem. I have the ability to create multiple wireless network configurations that save such things as the SSID, the WEP keys, etc.

I don't know if it is possible to automatically switch to the correct configuration, but once you have them created all you would have to do is bring up the card's connection settings and select the configuration you want to use. It should then automatically connect using the selected configuration.

As I mentioned, I have a Linksys WCF12, don't know if other cards have the same capabilities.

jda5id · 02-20-03, 11:30 AM

Pmoto -

I have the WCF12 as well but I don't think the configurations work as you say they do. It seems to save the info on the "Configuration" tab but none of the information from the Encryption tab. If you have a second to try it out and perhaps point out if I am doing something wrong that would be very helpful. It is annoying to have to reenter WEP information everytime I switch from one network to another. Thanks for any info you can provide

pmoto · 02-20-03, 12:10 PM

jda5id,

I guess I just assumed the WEP information was saved with the configuration since I don't have to reenter the WEP keys each time I reconnect to my wireless network. After entering them the first time (actually used a passphrase) they simply appear each time I reconnect.

Do you have to reenter the WEP keys each time you establish a network connection, or just when switching between networks?

jda5id · 02-20-03, 12:43 PM

Just when switching to a different network.

Here is the scenario:

At home I use WEP so I have a key entered. I go to a site where there is free WiFi that does not use WEP. I have to disable WEP which has the effect of deleting the key I had entered for home use.

I assumed that the way around this problem would be to create a different profile for each network I connect to. I would have thought that the config utility would save the encryption information within each profile, but it seems it does not save any of the WEP info in the profile, just the settings on the "Config" tab.

Try it on yours. You don't have to actually try to connect to any network, just see if different WEP settings are saved within different profiles. I am hoping it is something silly I am doing wrong, but I think it is more likely either a bug or a "feature" of the config utility. I have emailed Linksys tech support but I will not hold my breath waiting for an answer.

pmoto · 02-20-03, 01:21 PM

jda5id,

Will give it a try when I get home tonight.

Like you, I made the assumption the WEP information would be saved with the configuration. Am wondering if the key issue here is switching between WEP enabled and disabled networks. Have you tested to see if the keys are saved when simulating a switch between WEP enabled networks?

I guess if the keys really are not saved, using a passphrase would make it a little easier to reconfigure each time you re-enable WEP.

jda5id · 02-20-03, 02:03 PM

Great suggestion pmoto.

I tried it out and it worked. So I tried it again with a WEP disabled profile and it worked this time! I would be tempted to chalk my earlier problems up to user error but I see enough flaky behavior with this app that I still think it could use some work.

thanks for the help pmoto