Why would WEP affect communication between PC and Router?

Question

I'm having a problem connecting to my Netgear WGR614v6 router from my WinXP(Sp2) PC with an ADMTek ADM8211 card. The problem only occurs when I have WEP enabled (correct Key entered). I also have a Laptop that connects without any problems. The Strength is always Excellent but the connection either wont connect or when occassionly connected it doesnt last for long. It either comes up with 'Not connected' or 'Limited or no connectivity'. I'm currently having to use it without WEP but ideally want to have this enabled. Any suggestions would be much appreciated

Thanks for all the responses unfortunately none have solved the problem. The channel, the WEP code, the encryption bit, the SSID are all set up correctly and can be ruled out as the connection either works on the PC with WEP disabled or on my Laptop when WEP is enabled with the exact same settings. When WEP is disabled my MAC address can be seen by the router but cannot when WEP is enabled. Unfortunately my NIC does not support WPA-PSK (or WPA) the only options i have there are open or shared WEP. Any more ideas?

Answer 1

all good answers, one thing I've also discovered with some wireless routers. sometimes if you use a wep key that contains both alpha and numberic characters this happens. change the wep to all numberic sometimes fixes the issue, just another option.

Answer 2

A possibility to check would be to make sure that both the card and the router are using the same protocol (both using WEP, not WPA, or another)
--Or--
Which program are you using to connect your wireless connection? I would suggest letting Windows Wireless Zero Config handle it. It may be that the software that came with your wireless card is interfering, or messing with WinXP program when you enable the encryption.
I had a similar problem at home and finally just stopped trying to get it to work.

Does your card/router support WPA encryption? It is much better, but my card didn't support it, so I was out of luck.

Answer 3

If once a WEP key is applied you loose connectivity then all the above are good responses. Lets assume you resolve your encryption issues and still have a problem, I did. The router assigned dynamic address and guess what? Yep the NIC had a static address hence the "Limited" connectivity.

Answer 4

WEP is a security encryption key. You will need to set the WEP key on the router and then also set the same exact key on the computer so that they can connect.

Answer 5

If you can upgrade it to WPA-PSK (Pre Shared Key) that should sort out your problem, I'd the same problem when I was just using WEP 128bit for some reason, probably my own fault.
I upgraded my security to WPA-PSK and I haven;t had any problems since.

Also aside the fact that you'd be far more secure too :-)

Answer 6

check you are using the correct channel on your pc

check that the encryption is the same 64 or 128 or 256

like in the other answer regenerate the 4 key codes in your router and cut and paste them to a word file then open the word file on your pc and cut and paste them in your adaptor wireless software

check your mac address is included on the router if you have it set

ensure that you are trying to connect to the correct SSID name

on your router enable broadcast SSID name until you have connectivity then disable it

Answer 7

I used to get the same problem -- What I did was regenerate the WEP code, copy it into a text file, copy the text file to a jump drive, and then pulled it from the jump drive to all the PC's. Works great now. Hope this helps..

Answer 8

seems like it may be xp firewall issue that is blocking your connection as your lap top connects have you configured xp fire wall to allow connection to your computer.If not click start network connections new on network places then wizard will kick in to assist ensure your Network name is the same in all location IE Router Computer and Network places,then configure firewall to allow you access this hopefully will allow you to connect using wep.
Good Luck!!

Answer 9

it truly relies upon, video games which consists of call OF responsibility makes use of the host equipment, the position they pick the only with extra connection (power sensible) and makes use of that's connection for the full gaming consultation.