I have a hex wep key that has been in use on my network for quite some time, even xp and vista have no issues with it. Nor do any of my linux boxes. The key is 0123456789abcdef When I try to connect with my new win7 umpc I get the message "Invalid WEP Key". He is not attempting to connect, the dialog comes up immediately. The key is in fact a valid hex key. What is the problem with win7? How do I get Win7 to connect to this network? ??

I’m a little out of touch with WEP but isn’t a WEP key 5 alphanumeric characters (10 hex digits) or 13 alphanumeric characters (26 hex digits)? Could your 16 characters be the passphrase that generates the key?

This is a key not a passphrase. it works on all my other systems, including my girlfriend's vista lap top and my 3 unix machines , one of which has an XP virtual machine which has no issue using it either, and a wifi based printer. it is something to do with the length because entering 26 digits win7 at least tries to connect. 16 is the number of digits suggested by the router I had when I set up the network. I guess I would have to go to the 10 digit one because the router only allows to enter 16 digits at most. Do I really have to reconfigure my network just for this one win7 machine? Does any one out there know if this wonderful "feature" of win7 refusing to use the key can be disabled?

Hi Try to use the Hex key instead of the passphrase. I.e., copy the original Hex key from the Acess Point and type/paste it into the computer's WEP entry. What really matters to the Wireless is the Hex value of the key. WEP has at times a problem with the passphrase to Hex key translation (it is a general problem not Win 7 or other OS issue). Jack, MVP - Networking.

A small hint. Use WPA(2) if possible!"A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/

On setup the default settings for WEP security is Open, try changing this setting to Shared.

See Microsoft's information @ http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Set-up-a-security-key-for-a-wireless-network

I have a hex wep key that has been in use on my network for quite some time, even xp and vista have no issues with it. Nor do any of my linux boxes. The key is 0123456789abcdef When I try to connect with my new win7 umpc I get the message "Invalid WEP Key". He is not attempting to connect, the dialog comes up immediately. The key is in fact a valid hex key. What is the problem with win7? How do I get Win7 to connect to this network? ?? this behavior is exactly the same as vista. it also appears to comply with the (deprecated) WEP spec. that spec provides for a 5-byte or 13-byte key. (said equivalently, 10 hex nibbles or 26 hex nibbles, same as, 40-bits or 104-bits). i have successfully used a 5 byte key with vista and a WEP adhoc scanner. as a test just now, i set up that network (in just a few seconds) with win7-64, and it connected. i even browsed the scanner's config page. of course, just like vista, it would not permit anything except 5 or 13 byte WEP keys. i don't understand how you ever managed to get an 8-byte key to work anywhere. maybe you have forgotten, and you were actually using WPA? another possibility is that you had actually used a 13-byte WEP code like this: '0' '1' '2' '3' '4' '5' '6' '7' '8' '9' ab cd ef which translates into this hex: 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 ab cd ef

i don't understand how you ever managed to get an 8-byte key to work anywhere . It works on Vista, XP and various linux. No problem until win7. What a pain! I have to re-configure my network and all of the other machines just for windows 7, this is why I hate MS, their new and improved features are either like this absurd ideas that reduce productivity and security (bugs essentially) or roll backs of their last relase's new and improved features when they realize what a bad idea it was.

See Microsoft's information @ http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Set-up-a-security-key-for-a-wireless-network Ha, that's lovely. First they tell you wep shared key is less secure than wep open system and they proceed to suggest you use it!! Typical. It implies that open system isn't working on win7, otherwise they would have suggested to use it over the less secure shared key. That explains it.

WEP DOES work on win 7 as long as the router supports windows 7 AND you have the key correct. I am using WEP 128 on a old linksys WAP and windows 7 pro right now to upload photos to a server. And MS does not say to use WEP they tell you. "If, despite these warnings, you still want to use WEP shared key authentication, you can do so by following these steps:" They tell you it is unwise but if you WANT to here is how (some older devices only support WEP so yea some folks MUST use it).

actually, the drivers for some Intel N NICs do not support WEP as WEP was optional in the final 802.11n spec. On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 22:07:40 +0000, Bubbapcguy wrote: > > >WEP DOES work on win 7 as long as the router supports windows 7 AND you have the key correct. > >I am using WEP 128 on a old linksys WAP and windows 7 pro right now to upload photos to a server. > >And MS does not say to use WEP they tell you. > > "If, despite these warnings, you still want to use WEP shared key authentication, you can do so by following these steps:" > >They tell you it is unwise but if you WANT to here is how (some older devices only support WEP so yea some folks MUST use it). Barb Bowman http://www.digitalmediaphile.com