WPA vs. WPA2 vs. WPA-PSK

katiemac · Mar 14, 2011

Let me start by saying I have little idea about what those letters in the subject mean, but I don't think that matters. A couple days ago, my roommate replaced wireless routers. He said we probably just have to restart computers if there were connectivity issues. That's not the case here.

My roommate is connected, far as I can tell, to WPA2 and AES. WPA2 is not an option on my settings, only WEP, WPA and WPA-PSK. PSK seems to be the only one that let's me pair with AES and a enter a network key. Yet, when on those settings, my computer tries to connect and eventually just times out (no error). I can't use "repair" because it never does connect. I connected to an unsecured wireless network with some issue but it eventually worked when I repaired it.

Any ideas? I can't figure out what's changed, other than the router itself. But all the settings are the same as before.

alleycat · Mar 14, 2011

Gosh, this can get complicated. You or your roommate probably want to read the router instructions.

If you can't select WPA2, then you'd probably want to choose WPA-PSK over WPA.

And I think that's almost as far as I can help you. I use a four-port wired router at home, so I'm not up on wireless.

Williebee · Mar 14, 2011

Katie, have the roommate connect to the router and set the security to WPA-PSK (PSK means PreShared Key) Set a secret code in the configuration that only the two of you know. (As in: NOT "Katies_new_router")

Don't know how? The router should have come with a disk that will walk you through it.

Then, go into your wireless connections and delete that connection. You'll probably want to restart your laptop at that point. (I'm betting yours is older than your roommates.) When each of you reconnect to it, it will prompt you for that secret code.

There are some other things you should probably do to make the router more secure, like turning off the broadcasting of the SSID, or at least changing the name. More here.

Have fun!

Deleted member 42 · Mar 14, 2011

alleycat said:
Gosh, this can get complicated. You or your roommate probably want to read the router instructions.

If you can't select WPA2, then you'd probably want to choose WPA-PSK over WPA.

And I think that's almost as far as I can help you. I use a four-port wired router at home, so I'm not up on wireless.

Alleycat nailed it; the truth of the matter is that all of these are easily "broken" with free software.

WPA2 isn't an option with older computers.

Also: This is IMPORTANT all routers except those made by Apple have a default Admin login.

Change it. The ones that the router comes with are available and known and listed on Web sites.

What you might suggest to your roommate, if WPA works, is that she use MAC addressing--that is, every computer's network card has a unique number, called a MAC address.

There's always an option to only allow approved known MAC addresses to connect to a router.

kuwisdelu · Mar 14, 2011

Medievalist said:
What you might suggest to your roommate, if WPA works, is that she use MAC addressing--that is, every computer's network card has a unique number, called a MAC address.

There's always an option to only allow approved known MAC addresses to connect to a router.

Also — just to make sure no one here or anyone who looks here later gets confused — a MAC address has nothing whatsoever to do with Apple Mac computers. It just stands for media access control address, and any modern computer should have a unique one.

And as Lisa and teh kitteh said, if your computer is too old for WPA2, just use WPA on the router instead, and make sure to change the default admin password for the router.

katiemac · Mar 15, 2011

Medievalist said:
Alleycat nailed it; the truth of the matter is that all of these are easily "broken" with free software.

WPA2 isn't an option with older computers.

Also: This is IMPORTANT all routers except those made by Apple have a default Admin login.

Change it. The ones that the router comes with are available and known and listed on Web sites.

What you might suggest to your roommate, if WPA works, is that she use MAC addressing--that is, every computer's network card has a unique number, called a MAC address.

There's always an option to only allow approved known MAC addresses to connect to a router.

Okay... so the next uber-confusing aspect of all of this is that roommate has moved out, hence why we swapped routers in the first place. So for me to reconfigure it--who knows where instructions could be, if they even exist--I'll have to look that up when I find out what model we have.

But you guys are suggesting to switch to WPA-PSK? And do I need to do anything about the AES nonsense? (I'm sure it's not, you know, nonsense... but it certainly makes my brain feel that way.) I'm honestly just frustrated at this point because the screen on my computer died about two weeks ago, I started using this old machine right after the routers swapped and now I can't even get this to work.

Thanks. Le sigh.

Deleted member 42 · Mar 15, 2011

katiemac said:
But you guys are suggesting to switch to WPA-PSK?

Yep. Per Williebee

katiemac said:
And do I need to do anything about the AES nonsense? (I'm sure it's not, you know, nonsense... but it certainly makes my brain feel that way.)

Ignore it.

katiemac said:
I'm honestly just frustrated at this point because the screen on my computer died about two weeks ago, I started using this old machine right after the routers swapped and now I can't even get this to work.

Thanks. Le sigh.

You may have to contact the old roommate, but you should be able to download the software to admin it.

katiemac · Mar 15, 2011

Great. Perfect. Thank you!

maestrowork · Mar 15, 2011

Yup... just use WPA-PSK. Restricting to known MAC address is recommended if you're close to other people with wireless access...

movieman · Mar 16, 2011

In real-world terms, WEP is a sign saying 'No Trespassing', WPA is a sign saying 'No Trespassing' and a picket fence, WPA with MAC filtering is a sign saying 'No Trespassing' and a picket fence with a yappy Chihuaha in the yard. WPA2 is the Evil Overlord's lair with hundred foot walls, laser guns and guards who'll shoot on sight; there may be a secret entrance around the back, but every expedition so far has failed to find it.

If you're running XP, I believe there's a patch you can download from microsoft.com to enable WPA2 support.

maestrowork · Mar 16, 2011

It's amazing how many people still use WEP and WPA, and it's SO EASY to hack.

WPA vs. WPA2 vs. WPA-PSK

katiemac

Five by Five

alleycat

Still around

Williebee

Capeless, wingless, & yet I fly.

Deleted member 42

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

katiemac

Five by Five

Deleted member 42

katiemac

Five by Five

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

movieman

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray