Cannot connect my laptop to a WEP 64 bit encrypted wireless network. Why?

Question

i can see the wireless network listed in "Wireless Network Connection". When I click on connect it asks me for the key. I type the key... and they it cannot connect. Any idea why? I am able to connect from my Windows 7 desktop, but not from either of my XP machines. The network is encrypted with WEP 64bit

Answer 1

Two ideas:

1. Problem with XP driver for the wireless card: Try to install the latest version from the manufacturer's site (not Windows Update).
2. A security setting on the router is blocking the connection: Logon to the router and verify all filters or security settings.

Answer 2

Is that a hexadecimal key, or a passphrase?

When using a passphrase then, according to Choosing a password for networks that use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP):

Choosing and using a WEP password can be a challenge, because WEP is an older security protocol that was developed before members of the Wi-Fi Alliance had agreed on a uniform way to treat passwords. The result is that a WEP password may not work for all computers in a multiplatform environment.

[..]

• For a 40 bit WEP network, always choose a 5-character password.

• For a 128 bit WEP network, always choose a 13-character password.

[..]

Products that allow plain language (ASCII) password entry may not force the network administrator to create 5- or 13-character passwords that would result in the required 40 (5*8) and 104 (13*8) bit-length passwords. Instead, they use a "hashing" routine to convert an odd-length password to the correct bit length. The multiplatform issue arises when the hashing results of products from two different manufacturers don't match each other. The resulting "network equivalent passwords," which are always given in hexadecimal format, are different.

I don't know what to use for a 64 bit network then, but maybe you can use a hexadecimal key instead?

(And, like you probably know: WEP is old and insecure. Use WPA2 if possible.)

Answer 3

I was having the same issue, I have always been able to connect to every wireless router secured or unsecured wep or wpa. I had Fios installed and could not connect.
Verizon suggested it was my computer and gave me an outside wirless drive to use, it worked. I got rid of fios and went back to comcast and through out the drive, but now I am sitting at my friends house haveing the same problem. My tech savy friend told me it is a firewall setting or something in my antivirus software, but I disabled them both and still nothing works........Funny it is only FIOS