Comment 3 for bug 453260

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Störm Poorun (subs-olan) wrote :

Many thanks! I've tested it on a couple of routers and public wifi network and can confirm that it works fine with WEP ASCII keys.
(Running plasma-widget-networkmanagement from Aurélien's ppa repository on Kubuntu Karmic Beta 64bit.)

[Unfortunately, one little snag, which warrants a separate bug - when I get the chance I'll search/create a new bug for KDE. The default for the software on connecting to a WEP network is to ask the user to enter a WEP passphrase rather than a WEP ASCII or HEX key. I realise that there's no way of the software differentiating between passphrases and keys, but that there is a way of differentiating between different ASCII and HEX keys. Thus the user must at least choose either key or passphrase, the rest is figured automatically.
I suggest it would be far better for a request for a key to be the default, because: a) the vast majority of WEP usage is via ASCII or HEX keys rather than passphrases - as (from broad anecdotal experience, and market rationale) consumer devices and public networks to not default to using WEP passphrases; b) the few usages of WEP passphrase almost always involve technical users or users in corporate spheres with either technical support or a far greater awareness then the general public of 'having to do something special' with their wifi settings. ]