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July 11, 2009 1:38 PM

Can anybody help me with my wireless router?

So, I've set up a wireless network for my apartment, and when I set it up a few months ago I entered a password (although it may have been provided automatically, I don't remember if I made it up or not). My computer saved it, as did my roommate's, so we never thought about it again. Recently my roommate's computer bit the dust and her replacement computer requires the password. I wrote the password down, but I've since lost the paper it was written on. For the life of me, I can't seem to figure out what the password is or to change it.

When I pull up the advanced settings of my network I can see under the Association tab that it is an open connection and requires a WEP key. The space for the password shows that it is an 8-digit code, and whenever I try to change it simply by typing a new password into that space I get an error message that says: "The network password needs to be 40bits or 140bits depending on your network configuration. This can be entered as 5 or 13 ascii characters or 10 or 26 hexadecimal characters."

What does that mean? Is there anything I can do to change the password entirely?




Some facts you might need to know:

It's a Belkin G Wireless router
We use Comcast as our internet provider
I'm operating on Windows XP on an ASUS laptop
We are connecting through an Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter

Any help or tips is much appreciated! Thank you :)

posted by wild like kudzu to computers & internet (17 comments total)

Is there a hard reset button on the router you can use to set up a completely new connection?
posted by fearthehat at 1:48 PM on July 11

(before answering anything else -- WEP isn't much, if any, use as far as encryption strength goes. Look at WPA2 instead.)

If you can access the administrative interface of the Belkin router you can set a new password, and then enter this on both computers.

Googling your options, aside from the above (set a new password), a couple of links came up with help on how to extract the key that's already on your computer:
* http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_key.html
* http://www.wirelessdefence.org/Contents/Aircrack-ng_WinWzcook.htm
posted by devbrain at 1:54 PM on July 11

There's a reset button on the modem, but not on the router. The modem seems to be working just fine, should I reset it anyway?
posted by wild like kudzu at 1:55 PM on July 11

No; don't reset the modem.
posted by devbrain at 1:56 PM on July 11

(don't reset the router either, unless you have all the information you need to set it back up. If it's on cable service it probably doesn't need anything. If it's on DSL you'll typically need a username/password from your provider)
posted by devbrain at 1:57 PM on July 11

Look very carefully for a reset button...are you certain there isn't one? It might just be a tiny hole requiring a pin or a pen to press it.
posted by ae4rv at 1:58 PM on July 11

there will be a 'reset button' on the back of your router: a little hole into which you can stick a ball-point pen or something small and rigid and trigger. if you hold the reset button in for something like 30 seconds and release, then the router will restart into it's default state: you will need to know what the default username and password is at this point, if you don't have that paperwork you can usually find it by googling: 'your router name' default password... find this out ahead of time!

you will now get to reset how you want people to login to your wireless network including the password...
posted by geos at 2:01 PM on July 11

There are a couple solutions.
1. If you'e using firefox, go into tools/options/security/saved passwords, then click "show passwords" and it'll show you the one you have set for 192.168.x.x

2. Yea, there's a reset button on the router somewhere. Find it. Hold it in until all the lights light up and then go off. Let it go. Log back in (With the default password now), if you forget it, go to www.portforward.com and find your model, and then only pay attention to the tutorial as far as logging in. Then change it. Get rid of WEP, use WPA or WPA2 ideally.

3. Unplug the router for at least 10 mins. Maybe longer. An hour. Unplug it and go to dinner. When you get back, it should have reset. Follow instructions from #2 above to reset password.

(The nice thing about WPA or WPA2 PSK is that you make up the key and there's no specific key length.)
posted by TomMelee at 2:02 PM on July 11

ocrap followup. If you have DSL, you're likely gonna have to get on the phone with customer service to get your login junks from them for the router settings. You might not though....lots of DSL providers are phasing that out, relying instead on the ID of the modem to authenticate the connection.
posted by TomMelee at 2:04 PM on July 11

or...before you try reseting:

try going to 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1 on your browser. this should bring up the administrative interface of the router. try changing the password. it should ask you for an administrative password, which may be the default one which came with the router: see previous message.
posted by geos at 2:05 PM on July 11

What specific model of Belkin router are you using?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:06 PM on July 11

Here's a link to the support page for setting up security for a Belkin F5D7230-4. You did specify what model but others, if any, are likely to work similarly; In any case, you could probably root around on their site and find the model-specific instructions.
Good hedges against forgetting the password again are to write it on a sticky inside the front cover of the manual (if you are sure you'll be able to find the manual in a year or two), or better, keeping your passwords in a password safe (KeePass, f/ex; there are others).
posted by TruncatedTiller at 2:09 PM on July 11

I've never seen a Belkin model that doesn't have a reset button on it. Keep looking, or let us know what model you have.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:17 PM on July 11

I was gonna say what geos said! Do what he said. You're gonna lose whatever settings you had on your router, but chances are it isn't anything too time consuming to re-setup.

I also have a Belkin Wireless G router and it has a reset button. If you can't find it look up your model number on their website and hopefully they'll have a diagram telling you where it is.
posted by NeoLeo at 3:48 PM on July 11

Guys thank you so much for all your help! @TomMelee the saved passwords option worked perfectly! Regarding the router, I still see no reset button. It's a Belkin G Wireless router model F5D7234-4 v3, for anyone who was wondering.

Again, thank you!
posted by wild like kudzu at 8:12 PM on July 11

Go to page 10 on this PDF link and look at item (K). That's your reset button.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 9:58 PM on July 11

The fabulous NirSoft has a piece of software to pull saved WEP keys from Windows. It doesn't work so well for WPA keys though.
posted by ijoyner at 4:49 AM on July 12