Airport Base Station and Windows Xp Laptops

Question

I recently purchased an Airport Extreme Base Station. It needs to be set up for s set of students in an apartment. The connection is a DSL modem(?) via a static IP address. We managed to get it all setup and working with an Apple iBook, the wireless connection worked fine with the iBook, able to get at www.google.com etc. But the Windows XP laptops don't seem to work. They claim the signal strength is too low (they are within 2 feet of each other). When we initially set it up we used WPA personnel with a password, but the Windows laptop said something about a WEP 40 or 108bit key or password? So we switched the Airport Base Station to WEP... But no combination seems to work for the Windows laptops.
I had assumed that the Airport Base Station could provide wireless service to Windows XP machines. The laptops might be 1 yesr old? So it's not old equipment.
Are there some tricks or current issues with Windows XP getting wireless connections to Airport Base Stations?
-kto

Answer 1

But the Windows XP laptops don't
seem to work. They claim the signal strength is too
low (they are within 2 feet of each other). When we
initially set it up we used WPA personnel with a
password, but the Windows laptop said something about
a WEP 40 or 108bit key or password?
For a Windows XP laptop to use WPA, not only must you be using SP2 your hardware must also support WPA.
So we switched
the Airport Base Station to WEP... But no
combination seems to work for the Windows laptops.
One of the problems with WEP is that the actual standard relies on a 10 character HEX key for 40bit WEP and a 26 character HEX key for 128bit WEP.
In order to make things easier for people, vendors use certain algorithms to convert simple alphanumeric passwords (or passphrases) into HEX keys, thus enabling people to use simple memorable WEP password rather than lengthy HEX keys.
The problem is that different vendors use different algorithms to generate the HEX key and therefore a ASCII password on an AEBS will be hashed differently on a Netgear client and vice versa.
One thing is a 13 character 128 bit WEP password will be hashed by all vendors in the same way (if you use 40bit WEP then a 5 character password is required).
Though sometimes not even that works and the HEX key must be used regardless.
AirPort: Joining an encrypted wireless network
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106424
Choosing a password for networks that use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108058
Are there some tricks or current issues with Windows
XP getting wireless connections to Airport Base
Stations?
Accessing a Airport Network with a Windows XP PC or laptop (with XP SP2)
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/1011.html
Accessing a Airport Network with a Windows XP PC or laptop (with XP SP1)
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/1010.html
iFelix