Bug#398820: [pkg-wpa-devel] Bug#398820: wpasupplicant: WPA works but WEP key do not

[Kel Modderman]

On Thursday 16 November 2006 05:38, Anand Kumria wrote:
> I use the ipw2200 driver (from 2.6.18-rc2) and with the following in
> /etc/network/interface I can intermittedly associate but never get an IP
> address allocation via DHCP:
>
> iface wlan0 inet dhcp
>         wpa-ssid MyWiFi
>         wpa-psk  ABACADAEAF
>         up ifmetric wlan0 1

This configuration is for associating and authenticating with access point 
using the WPA or WPA-2 (Wifi Protected Access) encryption standard[1] using 
PSK (Pre Shared Key). Client side authentication management is  via 
wpa_supplicant.

If you used this config to connect to a WEP encrypted access point, you would 
periodically associate, but fail to authenticate soon after. This process 
would cycle indefinitely.

>
>
> However, if I use this instead, everything Just Works:
>
> iface wlan0 inet dhcp
>         wireless-ssid MyWiFi
>         wireless-mode Managed
>         wireless-key1 ABACADAEAF
>         up ifmetric wlan0 1

This configuration is for associating and authenticating with an access point 
using the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption standard[2]. Client side 
authentication settings are managed via iwconfig from wireless-tools.

>
> Let me know what, if anything, you want me to test. I'm unsure where to
> begin and/or what I might need to provide.
>

Since you seem to be comparing apples to oranges, there is clearly no tests to 
be done to fix the problem you describe above, as the only problem I can see 
is misinformation.

Do you have a reason for using wpa_supplicant for a static configuration 
defined in /etc/network/interfaces when the stanza using wireless-tools magic 
hooks Just Works?

If you did, a wpa_supplicant.conf block for connecting to a WEP access point 
would look like:

network={
        ssid="MyWiFi"
        key_mgmt=NONE
        wep_key0=ABACADAEAF
        wep_tx_keyidx=0
}

Translated to be used from /etc/network/interfaces:

iface wlan0 inet dhcp
	wpa-ssid MyWiFi
	wpa-key-mgmt NONE
	wpa-wep-key0 ABACADAEAF
	wpa-wep-tx-keyidx 0

And although the above is a theroetically supported configuration (via the 
wpasupplicant/ifupdown scripts) I still question why you would prefer this 
method for a statically defined network when wireless-tools is all that is 
required.

Thanks, Kel.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy