macbook lynksis 802.11b security..

i just picked up my 1st mac today..

and im having a difficult time setting up the wireless connection.

on the XP i can go into the URL of my IP, and get into my router controls, and if i leave it un-secured, the macbook works. once i go to enable WEP.. thats where im lost.

when i was using a XP notebook, i could simply write down the 8 or 10 dig. WEP code, and enter it, and it would allow my access. the macbook isn't working that easy.

it wants a wep code, when i enter it, it doesn't open the door.

also, in between my catagories, it says MAC ADDRESS...

"(MAC Address: 00-0C-41-83-BA-E4)"

whats that all about?

all i want to do i leave my linksys secured, so no ones bumin my bandwith, but what do i have to do to get the macbook to connect?

Mac Address isn't apple specific.

Mac Address is how network devices identify your PC's network hardware.

To connect from a macbook using wep if its not working from the start. Set it up this way. Go: systempref->network->Airport->TCP/IP tab->Assist Me-> Assistant-> use the default location name-> Continue-> choose that you connect over airport then choose your linksys box from the networks list and enter your password and click continue.

Notice: Sometimes this works sometimes it doesn't, with my Ibook when it wouldn't connect to a new network sometimes I would just reboot my laptop and it would connect with a wep passwd when I joined the network from the dropdown menu.

Make sure you have the latest firmware installed on your router.

yeah, i don't know what happen, but i followed the instructions you gave me, and you were right on the money.

and on the PC, i checked the WEP settings, and info on the router, and its still secured, with 64 bit WEP.. but when i did your directions, it didn't even ask for a key.. so i don't know for sure if its still secure, or what happened..

i'll mess around with it some more, and we'll see what happens.

That actually happened on my mbp once...I don't know what would do that. I'll look around and see what you could do to rectify this...you might want to move to wpa2 personal security if your windows wifi card will support as well. Wpa2 seems to be more secure, if you need any further assistance cwa107 is a good guy to talk to. He wrote the wireless networking faq at the top of this page.

Again make sure that you download the latest firmware to your router. When my router was acting up the wep security kept disabling itself when I connected from any computer and when I updated the firmware this resolved the issue.