Wireless Self-reconfiguring?

The modem icon on my Belkin transmitter started to flash. I unplugged the
modem, and plugged it back in, but the icon still flashed. I unplugged the
Belkin itself, plugged it back in, and all 6 icons came up blue.

The problem seemed to be solved.

But my laptop couldn't connect to the Belkin. However, a third computer was
still connected. I checked the configuration, and saw that what used to be a
10-symbol password had become a 26-symbol one. I typed this into my laptop
and the connection worked.

The system had reconfigured itself.

How could this have happened? Is it normal?

Thanks.

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:25:37 -0000, "Mike Parker"
<mparker113@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in <1kjch9.12s.17.1@news.alt.net>:

>The modem icon on my Belkin transmitter started to flash. I unplugged the
>modem, and plugged it back in, but the icon still flashed. I unplugged the
>Belkin itself, plugged it back in, and all 6 icons came up blue.
>
>The problem seemed to be solved.
>
>But my laptop couldn't connect to the Belkin. However, a third computer was
>still connected. I checked the configuration, and saw that what used to be a
>10-symbol password had become a 26-symbol one. I typed this into my laptop
>and the connection worked.
>
>The system had reconfigured itself.
>
>How could this have happened? Is it normal?

No. You may well have been hacked. Switch to WPA with a strong
passphrase. Now.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

John Navas wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:25:37 -0000, "Mike Parker"
> <mparker113@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in <1kjch9.12s.17.1@news.alt.net>:
>
>> But my laptop couldn't connect to the Belkin. However, a third computer was
>> still connected. I checked the configuration, and saw that what used to be a
>> 10-symbol password had become a 26-symbol one. I typed this into my laptop
>> and the connection worked.

That sounds like the Hex version of the ASCII key.

>> How could this have happened? Is it normal?
>
> No. You may well have been hacked. Switch to WPA with a strong
> passphrase. Now.

Perhaps overdramatic. Your router could also have suffered a power-spike
related crash, or otherwise corrupted its firmware.

John's advice about switching to WPA is valid however. Don't use WEP.