Third party Device connection to Airport Extreme Base Station

Question

I have a new Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS) that my iMac is wirelessly connected too. I cannot connect my HP wireless printer to the AEBS. The printer recognizes the SSID and WEP password, but does not have a connection & does not print.
I also, cannot connect a Netgear Wireless Bridge for (xBox) to the AEBS. The xBox does not see the SSID at all. What do I do??? I purchased the AEBS because the salesman said it would be the easiest wireless network ever, but I only have problems ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Aaron
iMac G5   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

Answer 1

Very likely a WEP issue.
If you turn off WEP can you now connect and print?
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
iFelix