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[Swim Dad]

I noticed this statement on the "Support" area of the DLink Website:

Encryption with Apple Airport

To use encryption with the 2 products, you must use a HEX key instead of using a passphrase. To enter a HEX key on the Apple product, enter a dollar sign ($) before the key. For example:

For 64-bit encryption, enter $1234567890.

64-Bit requires 10 Hex characters and 128-Bit requires 26 Hex characters. Valid characters are 0-9 and A-F.

Since this is a router that supports "G" and "N" speeds, this WEP encryption is only supported by "G" as WEP encryption is not supported by "N".  I have connected my Apple Airport Extreme Card to the DIR-825 2.4GHz band using WEP 26 Hex characters.  WEP encryption forces the 2.4GHz band to be "G" only speed.  I have a Wi Fi ready Blu-Ray player that will not download fast enough using the 2.4GHz "G" only.

Is there anyway (besides no security) to allow the Apple Airport Extreme Card accept the WPA / WPA2 personal security so that the router 2.4GHz band can broadcast the "G" and "N" speeds?

Dave

[user11]

Apple's airport wireless N cards require they support WPA2 AES to conform to wireless N spec, that support statement must be ages old.

[Swim Dad]

My Apple Airport Extreme Card is not "N" compatible, only "G".  It is from Jan 2005 and is inserted in a 20" iMac G5 1.8 GHz machine.  From everything I have researched, my iMac does not support "N" technology.  No matter what I did on the router with regard to setting WPA / WPA2 security, the Airport Extreme Card would return a 169.xxx.xxx IP address.  If anyone has any suggestions please, please, please respond.

[user11]

The Airport Extreme G(Broadcom) must support WPA2 AES for wireless N to function with the blu-ray player or you have to turn off encryption to have both clients work. Call Apple and ask if the card can support it with an software update? My draft G wireless card(Broadcom) circa 2003 works with WPA2 AES. Try setting it to ONLY WPA2 and ONLY AES in the DIR-825.



WPA2 requires a Mac computer with an AirPort Extreme Card and Mac OS X v10.3 or later

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Airport/5.0/en/ap2084.html

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL258

[Swim Dad]

Thanks for the screen shots.  I'll give it a try tonight and report back.
Dave

[Swim Dad]

Update,

I set my DIR-825 2.4GHz channel just like the post above.  The iMac G5 1.8GHz OS X 10.5.8 returned the dreaded 169.xxx.xxx.  So I tried "WPA Only" and "TKIP" in the bottom form.  Went over to the G5 and rebooted.  It came up asking for the password because none of my trusted networks were available.  So I selected my 2.4GHz name and typed in the password.  WA-LA!!!!  I am now WPA secure.  Better yet the "N" band is available for the Blu-Ray to use.  I thought I tried these settings, but I'll take it.

Thanks for getting me on the right track to solve this overly complicated problem.

Dave

[user11]

For wireless N to function(the speed benefit) it must use WPA2 with AES, or else you will be limited to wireless G speeds, the "N" band may look available to the blu-ray player but it's speed isn't. There is only one other way you will get wireless N "speed" and it is to turn encryption off completely. Did you try the mixed WPA and WPA2 with TKIP and AES setting in the DIR-825? It might allow the blu-ray to connect with WPA2/AES allowing wireless N speed, as well allow the Mac to connect using WPA/TKIP which is working.

Progress! keep trying, does the passcode used have a lot of abnormal characters? Try some simple passcodes(short 8 character phrase letters only) and if it works upgrade the randomness/strength incrementally (20 characters recommended at least for security). Some wireless clients can't handle randomized ACSII characters.

Does Airport Utility offer the choice of WPA-PSK(WPA-Personal)>>WPA2>>AES? It might be confusing seeing just WPA>>WPA2>>AES, which is for enterprise RADIUS only(do not use).

It came up asking for the password because none of my trusted networks were available.

How come this happened for WPA/TKIP and not the other, did you have a pre-configured profile tied to the network SSID? Are you just waiting for the Mac to ask you to enter a passcode? You should really try to manually create the profile instead. Some have had to repair permissions to resolve WPA2 problems in OS X.

[Swim Dad]

Update,

I have tried all possible combinations with regard to the encryption.  The mixed encryption on the DLink DIR-825 returns a self assigned IP (169.xxx.xxx) to the iMac G5.  There is no way around this that I could figure out.  So I put the highest encryption possible (WPA Only & TKIP) on the DLink that is compatible with the iMac G5.  Went down to the LG Blu-ray and played 2 NetFlix movies with no problem.  So I'll just leave it with the current WPA / TKIP encryption.