Nintendo Wii - Problems attempting to connect WPA2+AES

[philpoe]

Hi All,

After years of having low and no security on the wireless router because of the clients poor implementation of the security protocols, I recently noted that all the clients are now N or G, and shouldn't have issues connecting with security.

That led me to look at re-implementing my router and wireless setup. Among the G devices is a Nintendo Wii. After turning off SSID broadcasting (I know, not really helpful, but..), enabling WPA2 + AES and picking a reasonably long and strong password, everything but the Wii connected with no issues.

After a little googling, I came across a link, which basically said that the Wii can't really deal with long passwords, but there's a workaround of entering the hexadecimal key directly into the password area:
http://eddorre.com/posts/connecting-a-wii-using-wpa2-and-a-complex-password

I gave it a shot and it worked! Then I took notice of the suggestion not to include personal information in the SSID or password (which I did in both cases so they'd be easy for family members to remember), so I changed them, then re-entered the hex key, and... it didn't work any more!

Has anyone come up with a consistent way to get the Wii to accept a WPA2+AES setup with a reasonably secure password (in my case I mean 30+ characters, with at least 1 alpha, 1 numeric and 1 non-alphanumeric).

Any help appreciated. In the meantime, off to try more hex keys.

 

[philpoe]

Ugh. Apparently the Linksys WRTP54G and the Nintendo Wii simply do not like each other. Replacing it with a $20 Tenda W268R solved all problems in under 15 minutes.

I opened the router, plugged in the power, LAN and WAN cables. When I sat down to log into the device, the web browser could already connect to the internet without me doing anything. Nice.

On the 1st try with the Wii, using text, not a 64 character hex key, the console connected to the internet. Case closed.

I had planned to put the WRTP54G to use as a WAP, but considering how much hassle it gave me and how easy it was to setup the Tenda, I'm more likely to spend another $20 for another W268R as a WAP, and gift the WRTP54G to a frenemy.

The W268R has b/g/n mixed mode or g-only, which I selected for now, since N can't help me as my ISP only offers 20Mbs, and it's still 2.4GHz. With that I avoid an older device from inadvertently slowing the network speed down.

When a "better" router falls below by cost threshold, or my ISP offers >> 54Mb/s speeds, I'll replace this with a 5GHz N router.

Hi All,

After years of having low and no security on the wireless router because of the clients poor implementation of the security protocols, I recently noted that all the clients are now N or G, and shouldn't have issues connecting with security.

That led me to look at re-implementing my router and wireless setup. Among the G devices is a Nintendo Wii. After turning off SSID broadcasting (I know, not really helpful, but..), enabling WPA2 + AES and picking a reasonably long and strong password, everything but the Wii connected with no issues.

After a little googling, I came across a link, which basically said that the Wii can't really deal with long passwords, but there's a workaround of entering the hexadecimal key directly into the password area:
http://eddorre.com/posts/connecting-a-wii-using-wpa2-and-a-complex-password

I gave it a shot and it worked! Then I took notice of the suggestion not to include personal information in the SSID or password (which I did in both cases so they'd be easy for family members to remember), so I changed them, then re-entered the hex key, and... it didn't work any more!

Has anyone come up with a consistent way to get the Wii to accept a WPA2+AES setup with a reasonably secure password (in my case I mean 30+ characters, with at least 1 alpha, 1 numeric and 1 non-alphanumeric).

Any help appreciated. In the meantime, off to try more hex keys.