Bruce Johnson wrote:
On Jan 7, 2010, at 7:57 PM, Clark Martin wrote:
Even if they both work with ASCII it won't work unless the software on
both ends is from the same vendor. The ASCII to binary translation
wasn't standardized in WEP (as it is in WPA) and everyone did it
differently. Generally speaking for a Mac this means you need an
Apple base station.
Say WHAT???
For one, it's not "ASCII to Binary" it's ASCII to Hex which is a
straightforward transposition of hexadecimal bytes to the ACSII code
equivalent. At the most you need to remember which character string you
need to use to signify a hex WEP key, some used '$' some used '0x'.
No, I'm talking about ASCII to Binary. When you enter an ASCII string
for the WEP key there is a certain algorithm that is used to convert
from the ASCII string to the 40/64/128 BINARY bits that are used
internally for the encryption key. That translation is NOT part of the
WEP standard and was implemented differently by each manufacturer.
This is why you have to enter hexadecimal unless you are using the same
software at both ends (AP and Wifi card). Typically you start it off by
entering an ASCII string into the AP's front end and that gives you
THEIR hexadecimal transposition. You then have to enter the Hex value
(using the prefix for hex) for the key on the computers.
If you are using the same source for software at both ends, Apple's
Airport for example, you can simply type in the ASCII key into both the
Airport Base Station software and the Airport Client software and both
will translate it into the appropriate BINARY code. No need for Hex.
In WPA the ASCII to BINARY translation IS part of the standard. Hence
we don't need to mess with Hex when using WPA.
Secondly WEP is a rigorously defined standard, and 802.11b was so
smashingly successful BECAUSE it was so easily used by everyone. I have
almost never run into a problem connecting to a wireless network that
wasn't traced to a cheap WiFi box that needed rebooting, or a failing
wireless card.
Rigorous??? They utterly botched the encryption process. They put a
standard block of data at the beginning of each "plain" packet. That's
a decrypter's dream. It may be well defined but that's like saying Hell
is well defined.
--
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA
Macintosh / Internet Consulting
"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"
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