ianbrown.cc » Wireless Networking

How to get around Windows 7 asking for a user name and password when connecting to a wireless network

Ian Brown — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:12:52 +0000

Do you have a Windows 7 PC that asks for a user name and password when you try to connect to your wireless network? I was having the same issue with a friend’s Windows 7 laptop. I did some searching and finally found the answer.

The main problem is that Windows 7 does not really support WEP encryption. It prefers WPA. So if you want a quick fix, and you have access to the router’s settings, then just change the encryption type for the wireless network to WPA.

However, if you really want to stick with WEP, here is the workaround:

Click on START (the multi-colored ball in the bottom left corner of your screen
Click on CONTROL PANEL on the right
Click on NETWORK AND INTERNET
Click on NETWORK AND SHARING CENTER
Under CHANGE YOUR NETWORK SETTINGS, click on SET UP A NEW CONNECTION OR NETWORK
Select MANUALLY CONNECT TO A WIRELESS NETWORK and click the NEXT button below
Type in the name of your network in NETWORK NAME exactly as it was entered into the router
Set the SECURITY TYPE to WEP
ENCRYPTION TYPE should automatically change to WEP and should be grayed out so you can’t change it
Type your network password/key into the SECURITY KEY field
Check the box next to START THIS CONNECTION AUTOMATICALLY, if you want it to and if it is not yet checked
Check the box next to CONNECT EVEN IF THE NETWORK IS NOT BROADCASTING if you have the SSID Broadcasting feature disabled on your router (meaning you set it so that your network name won’t show up when someone searches for the available wireless networks in the area)
Click NEXT
Click CLOSE
Then, if you are not already connected and you are broadcasting your SSID, click on the bars in the bottom right corner of your screen where the time is where you normally connect to a wireless network, and select your network
Click CONNECT
You should be good to go!

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How to Activate Windows File Sharing in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

Ian Brown — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:17:05 +0000

Not sure why Apple did this. It’s still easy, but a little more hidden.

Simply do this:

Go to your Apple Menu in the upper left corner of your screen
Select System Preferences
Click on Sharing
Select “File Sharing” (make sure there is a check mark next to it)
Click on the “Options” button on the right side of the window
Check the box that says “Shares files and folders using SMB”
Click “Done”
Close the System Preferences window and you’re done!

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How to connect a wireless router and access point to a 2wire modem/router

Ian Brown — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:11:13 +0000

If you have one of those 2wire modem/wireless routers, and your signal is not strong enough for you. You can connect a wireless router like the Linksys WRT54G to it, and then have a wireless access point like the Linksys WAP54G be set up as a repeater to repeat the wireless signal of the WRT54G. This will make your wireless signal a fair amount stronger, and it will reach farther.

The way to do that is by setting the 2wire modem/wireless router to “Bridge Mode.” It’s a pretty simple process to do this. It’s just one setting that needs to be changed. Call your ISP and have them walk you through it. Then, simply hook up the Linksys WRT54G to the 2wire unit, enter the PPPOE info if you have DSL into the Linksys router, and then set up the Linksys access point to repeat the Linksys router’s signal.

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Free Wi-Fi Hotspots

Ian Brown — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 05:38:52 +0000

Forbes magazine has a search engine for Free Wi-Fi Hotspots:

http://forbes.anchorfree.com/

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Can PC 1 access PC 2′s files, but not vice versa?

Ian Brown — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 04:06:39 +0000

Make sure they are on the same network using the same Workgroup name. But the main tip that I wanted to mention was to make sure both XP PC’s are using Simple File Sharing. Here is how to switch it to Simple File Sharing if it is set to Advanced File Sharing:

http://www.petri.co.il/enable_simple_file_sharing_in_windows_xp.htm

NOTE: XP Home is only capable of Simple File Sharing.

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How to network an XP PC with a Mac running 10.4.x

Ian Brown — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 03:59:56 +0000

Great tutorial here:

http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3020.html

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Share your iTunes library with other computers on your network

Ian Brown — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 18:00:30 +0000

Do you have a computer on your home network that has a lot of music that you wish you had access to from your other computers? Well, you can have access with just a few clicks.

Make sure that you have your computers set to share files on your network. Then, all you have to do is on the computer that has all of the music, do the following:

01. Open iTunes on the machine that has the music you want to share
02. Go to EDIT>PREFERENCES (PC) or iTUNES>PREFERENCES (Mac)
03. Click on the SHARING tab
04. Check the box next to SHARE MY LIBRARY ON MY LOCAL NETWORK
05. You can opt to share your entire libary or just certain playlists
06. You can even require a password if you want by clicking the box next to REQUIRE PASSWORD and entering the password
07. Click OK
08. On the computers that you want to access this library, go into PREFERENCES above via Step 2, and check the box next to LOOK FOR SHARED LIBRARIES
09. Click OK

*iTunes must be open on the machine that has the music library that you are sharing in order for the other machines to be able to view and access it.
10. Done!

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How to print from a Mac running 10.4X to a printer on a Windows XP PC

Ian Brown — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:24:00 +0000

Go here:

http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3015.html

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Have Windows 2000 or XP SP1 and need a free Wireless Configuration Utility that supports WPA?

Ian Brown — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 19:07:15 +0000

I just found out about www.boingo.com. They offer a free wireless configuration utility that works with most cards, and that supports WPA encryption. The link is at the bottom of the page. It’s great for older laptops.

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Problems connecting to a wireless network?

Ian Brown — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 05:48:32 +0000

Having problems connecting to a non-encrypted wireless network that everyone else is able to connect to? I just recently had this problem and found out that my firewall was corrupt. So, I uninstalled it and reinstalled it and was good to go!

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