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73416ba
(Get the code!)
I realise that this is now an older bug but it appears to be the same in the latest Ubuntu 10.04. Like other correspondents, I was unable to log into (authenticate) WEP networks but was able to log into WPA-PSK networks. I have tried unloading Network Manager and loading wicd - same problem. However, I think i have found the problem. It is alluded to by Ryan on here on 17 Oct 2009.
I set up a spare wireless AP today with the same parameters as the one at work that I was unable to authenticate to - SSID SNAP WEP authentication password 12345. I still had the same problem - was unable to authenticate. However, in a blinding flash, I remembered that when I set the password - 12345 - on the wireless AP, it gave me four 10 digit hex KEYS (my caps). I changed the key on the WEP details for the SNAP network to the first key - E235485511. It worked!!! I then checked on-line for a 'WEP key generator' and found that the pass-phrase 12345 would ALWAYS generate the self-same keys. So this seems to be the problem - the WEP networks actually require the Hex key that is generated when you enter a 'normal' pass-phrase. In my case, it wanted key #1 - the one I have shown above. Now I accept that I may have been staring this in the face for a while as WICD (and Network Manager) actually asks for the WEP key and I - and I suspect many other people with the same problem - have been entering the WEP "pass-phrase" instead. BUT - my home WPA-PSK network also asks for the 'pre-shared key' and when I type in my everyday common English passphrase - it works!! There is clearly no consistency here! For WEP, I MUST NOT type in the normal ASCII passphrase, but for WPA I MUST type in the normal ASCII passphrase........
This is the sort of error that will completely throw people. OK, many - most? - wireless networks today probably use WPA but WEP is still around. BTW, I disagree with the statement read here that the 'hash will vary by AP manufacturer'. I suspect that the keys generated for a specific passphrase will always be the same. Hopefully, this CAN be easily fixed.