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General discussion

Cannot get tablet to connect to my wireless network

Apr 27, 2015 8:12PM PDT

I'm trying out a Lenovo tablet which I received from Office Depot yesterday. After charging the battery I began to play with it in my living room. Lenovo's literature which came with the tablet leaves a lot to be desired; very skimpy.

I have a nine year old Linksys WRT54G router which is installed in a bedroom where I have a Dell desktop computer set up; I also have a Dell Vostro 1510 laptop which I use wirelessly thanks to the router.

When I powered on the Lenovo tablet and went to wireless settings I recognized my router in the list of many routers and tried to connect the tablet to my router which is password protected.

I was asked to enter my password; I don't remember it because this was set up for me 9 years ago. I went ahead and entered a password but the Lenovo tablet would not connect. Should I contact Linksys; the company that made my WRT54G router and ask them for assistance?


Big Steve
04/28/15

Discussion is locked

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Re: password
Apr 27, 2015 8:21PM PDT

The user manual of your linksys router should tell how to access the router management page. If you're there you can see (and change if you wish) that password.

The general procedure is:
1. Open a browser in a PC that is connected with a cable (not wireless)
2. Type the IP-address of the router in the address bar. Something like 192.168.1.1. The exact value should be in the manual. If you can't find it, it's the gateway address shown in program IPCONFIG on that PC.
3. Type the username and password that allow access to the router management. The default values are in the user manual, but you or whoever set it up can have changed it. But it could be that a full reset of the router resets it to the default password (that's in the user manual also).
4. Find the SSID and the password.

But it's the same SSID and the same password as used on your Vostro 1510 laptop. Since that came out in 2008, your must have used it then, That's 7 years ago, 2 years after somebody set up that router for you. Now use the same. It's that easy.

Kees

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Re: password
Apr 28, 2015 8:59AM PDT

The router is currently connected by a bright blue cable to the back of my Dell Dimension 3100 desktop PC tower so if I can't find the box that the router came in when it was installed along with 2 new Dell computers in my house back in April 2006 I should still be able to do what I need to do from the desktop PC where the router is connected by that bright blue cable? A much larger cable is connected from my AT&T Westell DSL modem to the back of the router; it's a bright yellow cable; it has a larger plug on the end than the blue one does and it's labeled "Ethernet".

The Dell laptop which I received in April 2006 was an Inspiron 1300 I think; I dropped it a few years later and messed it up so another one was shipped to me in January 2009; a Vostro 1510 which is what I'm typing this post out on. The Inspiron 1300's OS was WIN XP; the Vostro 1510 which I have now has WIN Vista.

The SSID which was originally set up on the Inspiron 1300; the guy who worked for my brother's company set up the SSID using my real last name which I changed a few years later to something else when I contacted Linksys tech support for assistance. I don't know why the guy did that but I didn't want my wireless signal showing up on other computers in my neighborhood with my real last name on it.

What's the latest safest type of wireless? WPA? WEP? Something else? Does the kind of wireless protection you should have on your computer depend on the computer's OS and the make and model number of the router you currently have? Again mine is a nine year old Linksys WRT54G which when I checked Linksys still makes but their latest flagship model has not 2 but 4 antennas on it and sells for almost $300.USD. One of the two antennas on my WRT54G won't stay up and I can't figure out a way to tighten it; there is no screw visible.


Big Steve
04/28/15

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WEP is downright unsafe.
Apr 28, 2015 9:06AM PDT

WPA is also unsafe. Here's the tool I own that can connect to WEP or WPA or rather crack it in no time.

I own the ALFA AWUS036H which is shown many times on the web. Cowpatty is in the video at:
http://hak5.org/episodes/episode-518


That was June 2009. Since it was broken in 2009, it hasn't got any better in 2015.

--->>> WEP, WPA <<<--- is insecure.
Bob

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Re: WEP is downright unsafe.
Apr 28, 2015 4:46PM PDT

If WEP according to you is downright unsafe and WPA is also unsafe then what's considered safe?

What were you referring to by this statement? ->>>>>That was June 2009. Since it was broken in 2009, it hasn't got any better in 2015. You weren't referring to my Dell laptop.


Big Steve
04/29/15

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WPA2 is pretty safe.
Apr 29, 2015 12:37AM PDT

As to my reference, in 2009 it was known how to get by WEP and WPA. Over the years the software to do this has improved so that small children can do this.
Bob

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Re: WPA2 is pretty safe.
Apr 29, 2015 10:45AM PDT

Checking my Network and Sharing Center it says my security type of wireless is WPA-PSK; the radio type is 802.11g and my SSID is: **********. Is WPA-PSK secure or not so secure?


Big Steve
04/29/15

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As safe as it can currently be...
Apr 29, 2015 10:50AM PDT

Dafydd.

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I had hoped the 2009 WPA cracking would tell you.
Apr 29, 2015 11:18AM PDT

It's not very safe. In the 6 years that followed, the exploits on WPA and WEP were made easier so 9 year olds could hack in. Maybe younger.

But if this is the best you can do, then you have to decide if it's good enough.

In parting, hiding the SSID is outdated advice. The advances at HAK5 and other places mean it won't stop anyone if you hide the SSID. On top of that, hiding the SSID has resulted in more connection drops. Good news for my tech friends that make their living fixing WiFi setups.
Bob

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Tablet
Apr 27, 2015 10:23PM PDT

As Kees stated, it is the same ssid, etc. that you have on the other system. In the Lenovo tablets, there is a tutorial and manual in the system as is the same with many other manufacturers...most do not furnish much of a hard copy any more..just a quick start.