check a wlan-adapter for wpa capability

dear wlan gurus,
is there a easy way to check (with a tool, or a registry key or...) to
check if a builtin wlan-adapter is capable for wpa ? we should check
about 800 notebooks (different brands) if they support wpa. a tool
would be very handy.

thanx alot
tim

Until a guru shows up, I'll throw something in:

Are they B or G? Most B devices seem to fall on the side of not
supporting WPA. Most G devices do. That's a good starting point. A
few B devices do have updated drivers that handle WPA, but you may
have to root around for it.


1) If your notebooks are all the same, then researching the newest
driver for the installed adapter should tell you if they support wpa.
Install the latest driver and test.

2) If you have a variety of laptops, you could simply group them and
do #1 and/or test a representative of each group.
Put up an AP on WPA with a simple key in the same room and try to
connect using the client adapter in question.

Easy enough. I can't believe that there would be software that
investigates the driver on each laptop. It's too easy to read the
spec sheet or test it directly.


Steve

tim braun <tim.braun@freesurf.ch> hath wroth:

>dear wlan gurus,
>is there a easy way to check (with a tool, or a registry key or...) to
>check if a builtin wlan-adapter is capable for wpa ? we should check
>about 800 notebooks (different brands) if they support wpa. a tool
>would be very handy.

Sure, lots of ways. However, I'm lazy and really don't want to
describe methods for every version of Windoze, Mac's, or Linux. Is
there a common operating system? Perhaps you're lucky and they're
mostly a common brand or model? I assume you don't want to tweak the
laptop configuration as just trying it with a WPA enabled access point
would be a foolproof test. Just carry around a "travel router"
configured to WPA with a simple key. If the laptop can connect, it
supports WPA.

The other way is to use a commerical "auditor" program. I use the
free version of Belarc Advisor:
<http://www.belarc.com>
It will not show if it's WPA capeable, but will show the exact model
number of the wireless device, which you can then research using
Google. It will also show if the necessary service packs and updates
have been installed as you won't get WPA if these are missing.

In general, all 802.11g devices will do WPA *IF* the proper Windoze XP
updates are installed. The updates are usually the problem, not the
card. Windoze 2000 requires 3rd party software to do WPA. A few
802.11b only devices will do WPA.

If you have lots of Intel cards, this might be helpful:
<http://downloadcenter.intel.com/detail_desc.aspx?agr=N&DwnldID=8061&ProductID=1637 >

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 28 Jun., 19:11, Jeff Liebermann <j...@cruzio.com> wrote:
> tim braun <tim.br...@freesurf.ch> hath wroth:
>
> >dear wlan gurus,
> >is there a easy way to check (with a tool, or a registry key or...) to
> >check if a builtin wlan-adapter is capable for wpa ? we should check
> >about 800 notebooks (different brands) if they support wpa. a tool
> >would be very handy.
>
> Sure, lots of ways. However, I'm lazy and really don't want to
> describe methods for every version of Windoze, Mac's, or Linux. Is
> there a common operating system? Perhaps you're lucky and they're
> mostly a common brand or model? I assume you don't want to tweak the
> laptop configuration as just trying it with a WPA enabled access point
> would be a foolproof test. Just carry around a "travel router"
> configured to WPA with a simple key. If the laptop can connect, it
> supports WPA.
>
> The other way is to use a commerical "auditor" program. I use the
> free version of Belarc Advisor:
> <http://www.belarc.com>
> It will not show if it's WPA capeable, but will show the exact model
> number of the wireless device, which you can then research using
> Google. It will also show if the necessary service packs and updates
> have been installed as you won't get WPA if these are missing.
>
> In general, all 802.11g devices will do WPA *IF* the proper Windoze XP
> updates are installed. The updates are usually the problem, not the
> card. Windoze 2000 requires 3rd party software to do WPA. A few
> 802.11b only devices will do WPA.
>
> If you have lots of Intel cards, this might be helpful:
> <http://downloadcenter.intel.com/detail_desc.aspx?agr=N&DwnldID=8061&P...>
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann j...@cruzio.com
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

steve and jeff,
thank you for your hints.

tim