Linux clients not associating with Aironet 1100

Question

Does anyone know if there is an issue with a Linux client associating with an Aironet 1100 using WEP? Windows clients are connecting fine, and the Linux client connects to Linksys branded APs with WEP no problem.
Aironet config:
IOS 12.3(2)
16 AP on same SSID, different cells
128-bit WEP
Linux client:
Dlink Airplus DWL-G630
Kernel: Slackware 2.6.12.2
Commands used to associate
ifconfig ath0 up
iwconfig ath0 ath0 mode managed key restricted [2] {key}
dhcpcd ath0
After bringing up the ath0 interface, and running the iwconfig, you can see the iwconfig settings are sticking, but it seems to be jumping around APs when you watch the MAC of the AP. It goes from a valid MAC address to FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF and then to another valid address, and back again. This does not happen on the Linksys AP.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Andy

Answer 1

Try entering the key (on the Linux box) as hex.
Most of the Windows client software lets you enter the key in ASCII ... some client software requires that you put in the hex translation.
You can check the logs on the 1100 to see what the failure message is ,,, but I'd bet it'll be something along the lines of "Invalid Key"
Good Luck
Scott