Airport Express (802.11b/g) with WPA2 problem

C

Captain Kirk

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 22, 2002
Messages
288
Hey guys,

First off, does anyone know if the older Airport Express (802.11b/g) supports WPA2 Personal with AES encryption?

I dug out my Express after not having used it in a long time. I reset it back to factory, since I've changed wireless networks several times since it was last used. I hop on my laptop with the Airport Utility and there it is, waiting to be configured. I've configured it twice with the regular setup. It never joins my network. I've configured it twice with the "manual setup" option. It does the amber/green "I'm messed up" song 'n dance. Its logs from the Airport Utility aren't really revealing anything useful. I can't help but wonder if this is another device that claims to speak WPA2 but just can't, or if it can't handle the lack of TKIP (AES only).

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, guys!
 
If you reset it to factory defaults, it may have reset to the original factory firmware as well - which was probably from before WPA support was added. In the Airport Utility, have it check for firmware updates. If it finds a newer firmware, that may get you WPA2 functionality. Good luck!
 
Alas, I just checked and it's 6.3 (the latest). I also found this tidbit hinting that it's not possible to use AES-only WPA2 with the old Express.

If only TKIP hadn't been broken or if my wireless network was out in the "boonies" ;). As it stands, I've got several people poking away hoping for free WiFi. So, I guess I'll have to try the ethernet setup with the Express...

Thanks for your suggestion, though!
 
Hmmm, I did have my airport express connected to my airport extreme in WDS extension in WPA2 encyption. So I know it works that way.
 
CrazyCuz2k said:
Hmmm, I did have my airport express connected to my airport extreme in WDS extension in WPA2 encyption. So I know it works that way.
Click to expand...
I suppose I should have said what it was connecting to in my initial post :). It's a non-Apple, Actiontec :eek: M1000 series, running WPA2 AES-only (no TKIP).

I'd be willing to bet your Airport Extreme is running its WPA2 with TKIP+AES for compatibility. Not sure if there's a way to definitively tell with the Airport Utility, though.
 
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