# How do I find my WEP Network Key?



## bigcity11

Hello. My Internet is down. I appear to be getting power from the modem as all the lights are lit up. I have a wireless router. On my desktop I clicked on the Network icon and it said "3WIRE***" is in range but requires a Network Key (also called a WEP Key or WPA Key)? Could this be the problem? I've 
never had to enter a password to access my internet before. Do you know how I can find (or reset) my password? It's a D-Link router. 

Thanks,
Craig


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## Cellus

Hello and welcome to TSF.

You will need a physical connection to the router. Once connected go to http://192.168.0.1 in your web browser, enter the username and password for your router, and you should be able to set up a new key in the router configuration. If you do not know the username and password for the router, contact the person who set it up or consult the manual. Due to security reasons, I can not directly assist you in logging in except to say either someone knows it or it's in the manual.


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## bigcity11

Hi Cellus,

Thanks for the help. Per your suggestion I'll check out the D-Link manual when I get home. 

The guys at Comcast set it up in 2005 and after calling them they didn't know the WEP key either and referred me to D-Link. I don't know the user name and password for the router either, so hopefully the manual will steer me in the right direction. 

Thanks,
Craig


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## muggy

bigcity...which D-link router do you have? coz before you connect to the network you need to ensure that you are connecting to the network given out by your router. is 3WIRE*** the name of your wireless network? as suggested by Cellus connect the laptop to the router with an ethernet cable. then check the default gateway address of your LAN connection. enter that address in IE. when prompted for login credentials try 'admin' (without the quotes) for username and leave the password blank. this is the default login for D-link routers. please post the make and model number of your router and i will be able to provide you with more specific instructions


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## bigcity11

Thank you both very much. I'm not very good at this stuff, so I appreciate your patience and clear instructions. 

Couple things:

1) I have a desktop, not a laptop (I use the wireless router because my computer is 2 rooms away.) 

2) I have a D-Link SWL-G520 AirPLus Xtreme G 

Also, last night I may have "jumbled the rubics cube" a little further by fiddling where I shouldn't have been. Moving forward I'll do precisely as you instruct. 

I tried entering a passord in the WEP for "3WIRE***". I'm not sure 3WIRE*** is mine, though it's the only one that is consistently on top. The neighbor's connections in my apartment complex seem to come and go. Anyway...

So the password seemed to work at first. The "D" at the bottom of my desktop turned from red to green. But then it told me there was "Limited or No Connectivity" under the Wireless Network Connection Status on the Support Tab. Further it said: The problem ocured because the Network did not assign a Network address to the computer." 

And that's when I panicked and clicked disable. 

This is where I stopped before I made anything worse. I await your step-by-step instructions (and I can move my computer to get a direct interface with my modem if need be.) 

Now my "D" is gone at the bottom of the screen. There's only an icon with 2 computers with a red "X" over it. When I scroll over it it says" Local Area Connection - A Network Cable is Unplugged".

Help?


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## bigcity11

Sorry, that's D-Link DWL G520 

Also have a DI-524 AirPLus G 802.11g 2.4GHz


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## muggy

dont worry about the Local Area Connection...that will show connected only when you have the desktop wired to the router. To get the D icon back in the system tray you will probably have to enable the connection that you disabled earlier. then connect the computer to the router with an ethernet cable and follow the instructions as given by Cellus and me. D-link routers by default have an IP address of 192.168.0.1 and 'admin' (without the quotes) for username and the password should be left blank

Limited or No Connectivity is the standard message that comes up when the network key is incorrect. if you are able to access the router configuration page with the above IP and username then on the left panel click Wireless and check what the SSID is. is it 3WIRE***? whatever you see against SSID is your network name. then make a note of the appropriate key(which has the radio button enabled). try to connect to the 'right' SSID and enter the key. lemme know if this fixed your issue

**Note: if your encryption type is WEP you will be able to see the key, if its WPA or WPA-PSK then the key would show up as a set of asterisks so you will have to create a new one


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## bigcity11

Awesome. I've got it working. _Thank you. _

Here's how it went down: 

On Friday, one of my tech co-workers said he'd be happy to drop by my place to check out the problem. Nevertheless I printed out yuor instructions, and I'm glad I did because they came in very handy. 

So once we got a direct link to my router, we pulled up the SSIN and it was listed as "BruceTreo". I asked my co-worker who that was and he speculated it was a neignbor of mine who may have "swiped" my access and locked me out. Is that likely? 

IN any case, he created a new SSIN (and a new WEP password) and all is good in the world again. It was yuor instructions though that steered us in the right direction.


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## muggy

hi bigcity,

really glad that we could get your wireless working.

did you have an unsecured wireless network(without a security key) before? if yes, then it is possible that someone else may have logged into the router config page and changed the settings. the security key prevents malicious users from joining your network but i would also recommend that you change the username/password for the router login. as per my previous post the default username is 'admin' and there is no password. login to the router page and select Tools tab. enter a new username and password for the administrator.

**Note 1: the administrator username and password is to login to the router config page, it is not the security key for the network. the network security key is your WEP key

**Note 2: after you change the username/password please make a note of it somewhere coz if you forget this then the router will have to be reset for you to be able to log into it again


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## sheva85

Hi, I'm having the exact same problem, my connection is asking for a network key while I have never required one before. I have a D-Link DFE-530TX PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter. I try typing in http://192.168.0.1 to my browser but it says that the page can not be displayed.

I guess I don't really understand what you mean by needing a physical connection to the router. I have two things connected by network cables, one that is connected to the cable TV outlet in my wall and then connected to the computer with a network cable, and then another that is the wireless network access point that is connected to the computer by a network cable. I am not sure how I get the physical connection to the router, and I'm not really sure what the router is. Could you please explain to me how I can get this connection to the router?


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## muggy

Hi Sheva,

The D-Link DFE-530TX PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter, as the name suggests, is an ethernet adapter i.e. it provides wired internet not wireless. check out this link. 

go to Start -> Run, type in devmgmt.msc and click OK. in the window that comes up scroll down to Network Adapters and tell me what devices you see listed under it.

please post more info about your network hardware: 
1) the make/model of modem that was provided to you by your ISP (modem is the one which is plugged into cable tv outlet)
2) the make/model of the wireless access point


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