On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 16:22:42 +0100, "Christian McArdle"
<cmcardle75@nospam.yahooxxxx.co.uk> wrote:

>Does anyone maintain a list of incompatible wireless cards?

Yes. However, Wi-Fi.org does not release information on who fails
their compliance tests.

>I have just bought a cheap Edimax PCI 54g card and a cheap Actiontec ADSL
>router.

I like cheap. I guess cheap hardware doesn't have model numbers.

>Everything else I've got interfaces fine with the router, including a
>Linksys USB 11Mb, the built in 54g module in an Acer laptop, an old Buffalo
>11Mb PC card and my printer server (also Edimax). They all work up to the
>level of security for which they were originally designed.
>
>Unfortunately the Edimax PCI card will only talk unsecured (which works
>fine). It won't work with 64bit or 128bit WEP or WPA. They just say
>"Acquiring network address" for several minutes and end up with a crappy
>169.x address.
>
>Have I any chance of getting this card to work, or should I just send it
>back and try another make?

I'll assume you've checked for updated router firmware and Edimax
client drivers.

Yep. The problem is that the WEP conversion from ASCII to Hex keys is
different between different manufactories. There should be only one
way, but since standards are such a great thing, every company wants
to invent their own. Setup the unspecified model Actiontec ADSL
(wireless?) router for 128bit WEP and use a Hex key, not an ASCII key.
That always works. (Yeah, I know it's a big long key, but I can't do
anything about that).

WPA should work without the same problem as the ASCII to Hex
conversion has been standardized. If your unspecified Edimax card
does not work with WPA, then something is wrong with the driver (WPA
is usually in the driver, not the hardware). You might want to try an
alternative WPA driver before you give up.
http://www.wirelesssecuritycorp.com/...PAAssistant.do
It's kinda worth it as WPA is much more secure than WEP.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558