Having trouble with WPA encryption and MAC address filtering

[Whitebread]

I just recieved a brand new Linksys WRT54GL and I'm trying to properly set up a wireless LAN. I want to enable WPA encryption with a shared key and select MAC filtering to only let a few wireless machine access the nework. When I go into the encryption menu, I do the following.
I select WPA personal
TKIP encryption
then I ad a key in hex
leave the default 3600 seconds

I select WPA-PSK and TKIP encryption and then I add the key twice as required. Once this happens the computer disconnects, then reconnects to the wireless network. The problem is that, while I can access the internet and use trillian, etc, the network is listed as disconnected under Network conections and in the sys tray. I don't wnat this, how do I fix it?

Secondly. enabling MAC address filtering and selecting "allow" or "permit" or whatever it was kicked my laptop off the network and would not let it reconnect, eventhough I added its MAC address (confirmed via the computer name I choose) to the filter list. What gives? And after doing that, I can no longer access the router's menu. I think I will have to do a hard reset, which I didn't wnat to do! I type 192.168.1.1 and the page just keeps loading with no end.

 

[kent]

I bought a 54G yesterday and struggled with this as well.

The only way I've been able to make anything other than WEP work:

- WPA Personal (Not WPA2)
- Put in my key, changed time to 600

Then Windows detected that there was a WiFi network available, listed the SSID and in () said WPA. I double clicked and typed in the key and it worked.

If I tried to manually "save" the key before connecting it would NEVER work.

I also had the issue with being connected yet saying you're not connected (useless!) but that went away once I input my WPA key upon connecting.

I have not been able to get WPA2 to work, but at this stage I live out in rural Arkansas so I don't think it matters.

MAC filtering does work for me however and it is enabled for extra security and I have disabled router admin access to WiFi clients, only hardwired ethernet can access the router. Default password was changed as well and I changed the router name to something scary.. "AIXSERVER"

 

[Whitebread]

Well, I disconnected from the network and checked all the settings for WPA encryption. Everything was set to the lowest possible security setting. I then went to the listed networks in the area and tried to connect to the only one listed (the one I'm trying to set up) and did as you did and entered the hex key. It seems to work without disconnecting at intervals and shows that I have connected in teh systray. I still can't get MAC filtering to work because I can't connect to the routers menus! I really don't want to do a hard reset. Ugh.