Bugzilla – Bug 1687
Enter WEP key alphanumerically
Last modified: 2010-05-07 10:20:00 UTC
This would require trying the various encodings (apple's proprietary one, ASCII encoding, etc...)
I take it this means entering the passphrase, as the hex entry seems to work ok. Seems more like an enhancement if this is the case.
this obviously isn't just a mac issue. using a passphrase should be the norm... who in gods name wants to enter hex codes?
Agreed, this isn't just a Mac issue, unfortunately the Apple ASCII -> WEP key algorithm is different than everybody else's (broken MD5 implementation IIRC). And, I also agree, nobody wants to enter a WEP key in hex.
can u please clarify for me where mac comes into it? do you mean apple wireless routers? if so, since thats a very limited case, couldn't they still be forced to do hex while everyone else does a passphrase? also, does this issue apply to WPA or only WEP?
Yes. Apple routers use one text -> key algorithm, and I know of at least two other methods (MD5 sum and fixed password length). This is a hard problem to fix well without asking the user a lot of questions and since WEP is akin to no encryption, it's not a high priority.
i agree that wep is not secure, however some people use it just to keep "wanderers" off their ssid, as i once did. i don't now however. (rural area, i just limit dhcp connections now) having said that i understand your rationale, but i am still curious about wpa. does my SB2 support it? (i'd guess yes) and if so, is the limitation specific to WEP only and not WPA?
This is an important enhancement although it is not just an Apple issue. I am trying to configure a Boom for a friend who has set up their wireless LAN with 128-bit WEP using a 13-character alphanumeric passphrase - their router unhelpfully does not tell them what the hex equivalent is. All Windows (XP, Vista) PCs in the house accept the 13-character alphanumeric passphrase - the Logitech Boom is the only device they are unable to connect using a passphrase because it only accepts hex strings.
Dean doesn't work here any more :)
All new Squeezebox products are likely to be based on the SqueezePlay platform. We do not plan to implement any further enhancements to the ip3k firmware or which are targeted specifically at ip3k-based products.