Macworld Forums

I have been running a wireless connection to my Mac using an Orange Livebox for some time. I am trying allow my daughter to use my connection with her new Macbook, the Macbook is identifying the Livebox and requests a password, I have entered the appropriate password but cannot establish a connection.

I have looked at Internet Sharing on my Mac as I had assumed that I would need to switch this on however when I do this I lose the connection to the server on my own connection.

Could anyone please assist?

many thanks

tonyh1066,

AFAIK you need Internet Sharing off as that turns the Mac into a base station.

Take a look at this Apple Support Doc - Mac OS X, AirPort: Connecting to Third-Party Base Stations

Cynic, thanks for the reply.

I have looked at link and understand that I need to change the password to a new format.

When I initially set up the router the password I needed was a security code on the base of the router.

I also set up an Admin password to enable me to access the router settings, which one do I need to change?

Thanks

tonyh1066,

I think it's security code on the base of the router, which is entered into the Mac Airport set up.

This is only a guess I'm afraid, but worth a try.

Cynic,
I have looked at router settings and the password is described as the WEP Security Key, there is a warning that I will lose my connection if I change it so I had better leave that one alone!

My daughter is not here so I can't try any changes at the moment, I think her Macbook requested WPA password, does this shed any light on what I need?

Thanks

tonyh1066,

I'm not suggesting that you change anything on the router, just try entering the key in a different way on the Mac that isn't connecting.

I would have said that it should be the same as the one you use on your other Mac. How did you connect that, manually or with a set up CD?

I'm sorry that I'm bumbling around here, but it's not something I know that much about, but until someone who does can give a better answer...

Cynic,

I worked out that's what you meant after I replied, don't worry, your help is much appreciated, I think it's me who is bumbling around.

I didn't have any problems setting up although I did have to connect by Ethernet before using wireless, perhaps that is the answer, she will not be back with Macbook until the weekend, at least I have a couple of things to try.

If anyone has any other ideas in the meantime please let me know.

Thanks again

tonyh1066,

I'm just sorry that I don't know enough about WiFi to be able to give you a neat answer.

tonyh1066,

I have looked at router settings and the password is described as the WEP Security Key, there is a warning that I will lose my connection if I change it so I had better leave that one alone!

My daughter is not here so I can't try any changes at the moment, I think her Macbook requested WPA password, does this shed any light on what I need?

WEP and WPA are two different types of password encryption. With WPA being more secure than WEP you can read here

It maybe the case that you are entering the correct password on your daughters macbook, but with WPA selected and not WEP?

If your mac supports WPA, I would recommend changing the setting in your livebox configuration setup page hope this link works! to WPA security only. I know it's for windows, but it will give you a good idea of what to do.

Hope this helps

hangman,
Thanks for that, I am beginning to understand better now.

My IMac is about 1 year old, how do I check if it will support WPA?

Also the first link that you sent advises that a plain English password is required for WPA but the Orange link does not mention this and I am a bit confused, are you able to clarify?

many thanks

Tony,

I arrived at my sister's house tonight. All I did to get my MacBook using her wireless connection was to click the (greyed-out) fan at the top of the screen. In the drop-down list, her router was mentioned. I clicked this name and a pop-up box appeared which had 'WEP Password' already selected. In the Password box below, simply enter the code from the base of the router. The fan will now be black and you should be connected.

Andrea

ALM,Thanks Andrea,

I cannot check until my daughter gets back at the weekend but I recall that I followed the same procedure but when I got the drop down list the router was there but it had a padlock next to it. When I tried to connect a WPA password was requested which is where I got stuck.

I am happy that I have the security so good but I wish I could get round it myself! I am wondering if the problem lies with the way I have set up the router when I installed it. I do see that I have the wireless configuration set up for WEP & WPA, perhaps I should amend that but which way, it is a mystery but I am learning.

I will try again at the weekend, in the meantime all thoughts are welcome, thanks again for your help.

Tony

tonyh1066,

Ok. This is the kind of thing which usually happens to me! For once, it all worked beautifully - must have been a fluke!

tonyh1066,

According to this link, you have to uncheck WEP/WPA in the setup, and check WEP, as the key provided is WEP only. This link tells you how.

http://www.transcience.freeserve.co.uk/bramley-apple/tutorials/orangelivebox/10.html

it looks a good set of instructions to me, though I've picked a page part way through, after the original set-up (as you've obviously successfully done that). (BTW, Bramley Apple say the instructions may only be readable on Firefox, although it worked OK on Safari for me). That should then "unlock" your daughter's Airport list. She should then select 40/128 bit hex and enter the password as the instructions state.

Definitely worth a try; my experience is you have to fiddle around with passwords, so if that doesn't work select WEP from the drop-down list and try that. From what they say, though, WPA is out as there is no password provided for it (You could choose one, but let's not go there for the moment!).

Best of luck!

tonyh1066,
I've just been reading the orange support pages and it seems that you have to connect your mac via ethernet and "pair it" with the Livebox first before you can connect to it via airport. Does this ring any bells with you?

I must admit it does seem strange to have to do that with every new Mac that you want to connect wirelessly, but that might be just the way that the Livebox works?

take a look here

Your imac airport will support WPA encryption. I don't have any personal experience of the Livebox, but it should simply be a matter of entering a short name or phrase when selecting "WPA security only" in the routers configuration page, as linked to in my above post.

You may find that the Livebox even provides you with one. Just make sure that when connecting to the Livebox you enter this same new password into your imac and macbook when prompted to.

HTH

Many thanks for all the suggestions, I will try again at the weekend and I hope to be able to update with positive news next week.

An excellent forum, I will be a regular visitor

Cheers

Tony