Connect Airpot Express on Macbook Pro to third-party base station

Question

I recently bought a second Macbook Pro and I am having trouble connecting it to my netgear MR814 router. I use WEP encryption 128-bit hex. I got this working on my first one (in fact I'm using that computer to write this post) but it took me along time to get it working and I don't know what I did. It just suddenly worked. So how can I get this second Macbook to connect to my network?
I have tried common fixes:
1. $(password)
2. selecting WEP in security type
3. selecting WEP 40/128 bit hex
nothing has worked. any suggestions?

Answer 1

Hello imustflee. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Any particular reason you don't use WPA or WPA2 instead of WEP? I would recommend it as WEP is no longer considered secure.
The problem 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, vendors use certain algorithms to convert simple alphanumeric passwords (or passphrases) into HEX keys, thus enabling the use of simple easy to remember 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 non-Apple client and vice versa.
If you must use WEP, I suggest that you create a 26-HEX character password on the Netgear, and use this same password when accessing it from either Macs or PCs.
You may also find the following Apple article helpful.