Wireless tooltip appears to be incorrect by stating network is (unsecured)

Hi all,

This is more of an annoyance than anything else. I'd like to find out
if anyone knows of a hotfix, patch, or KB article regarding this issue
- I would appreciate it.

OS: Windows XP Home SP2 with WPA/WPA2. (multiple machines)
Hardware: the machines experiencing the issue contain only wireless
network (linksys, intel) cards so that is there only form of
connectivity.
Symptoms: If I perform a repair or just boot the machine a tooltip
comes up stating:
Connected to: SSID (unsecured)
Signal Strength: Excellent

Fact: The access point I am connecting to is secure because its running
WPA-PSK TKIP.
Reminder: the (unsecured) message only appears after a reboot or after
a repair. If I hover over the wireless network icon in the taskbar, it
does NOT show the (unsecured) message.

Guess: My guess is that the tooltip is just reporting inaccurate
information - which confuses the user(s).

Troubleshooting performed:
Ran sniffer to determine if anyone else was spoofing my ssid - does not
appear to be the case.
Ran sniffer to determine if in fact the traffic was encrypted and it
was.
Drivers have been updated on wireless network cards (broadcom, linksys,
etc.) as this is occuring on multiple systems. I also have some friends
this is occuring to. I also noted some other entries on the web (not
too many) but there are some, here's one example:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14660102

Bottom line is that there are no answers to this little oddity and I'd
like an answer for myself and for others that are experiencing the same
issue. I can recreate the issue at will and have screen captures if
necessary.

Thanks in advance,
Chuck

charlesjsmith@gmail.com

<> wrote in message
news: oups.com...

> Troubleshooting performed:
> Ran sniffer to determine if anyone else was spoofing my ssid - does not
> appear to be the case.
> Ran sniffer to determine if in fact the traffic was encrypted and it
> was.
> Drivers have been updated on wireless network cards (broadcom, linksys,
> etc.) as this is occuring on multiple systems. I also have some friends
> this is occuring to. I also noted some other entries on the web (not
> too many) but there are some, here's one example:
> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14660102
>
> Bottom line is that there are no answers to this little oddity and I'd
> like an answer for myself and for others that are experiencing the same
> issue. I can recreate the issue at will and have screen captures if
> necessary.
>

This is interesting. I read through what everyone said on that link and so
changed to WZC to check it out for myself. Doesn't happen here. My balloon
tooltip just says I am connected without saying whether I am securely
connected or not. Viewing available networks shows it is security enabled
and shows a neighbour's network that says that network is unsecured, which
it is (though the word "unsecure" seems wrong to me. I think it should be
"insecure" but that's another issue).

I use a Gigabyte USB wi-fi NIC on all my computers (my laptop being bought
in 2002 was not centrino enabled thank goodness so it has a USB NIC as well.
I find the PCMCIA cards useless in comparison to a USB NIC) and none of them
reflect the problem you are having.

So, what I would ask you to do to test for yourself is, if you have access
to another brand of wi-fi NIC other than the one you use, to install it and
see if the problem continues. I don't mean to say the stuff you use is not
secure or is, in some way, buggy but I always like to try and find out if
that is a possibility.

I have also used D-Link NICs and they don't do that, nor does any Netgear
NIC of which I am aware.

It is quite possible that somewhere, someone is using the same SSID as yours
and is in close range but I doubt that is the case. What I think is possibly
more likely is that you are using WPA or WPA2 and for some reason your NIC's
driver is not communicating details properly and that if you used just WEP
for a test, that balloon tip with "unsecured" would go away. If you test
with WEP only and it shows as linking in secured, I would be emailing the
maker of your NIC and telling them they have a problem.

Diamontina,
Thanks for the assistance, but I have tried all those steps and still
experience the issue.
Chuck

Diamontina Cocktail wrote:
> <> wrote in message
> news: oups.com...
>
> > Troubleshooting performed:
> > Ran sniffer to determine if anyone else was spoofing my ssid - does not
> > appear to be the case.
> > Ran sniffer to determine if in fact the traffic was encrypted and it
> > was.
> > Drivers have been updated on wireless network cards (broadcom, linksys,
> > etc.) as this is occuring on multiple systems. I also have some friends
> > this is occuring to. I also noted some other entries on the web (not
> > too many) but there are some, here's one example:
> > http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14660102
> >
> > Bottom line is that there are no answers to this little oddity and I'd
> > like an answer for myself and for others that are experiencing the same
> > issue. I can recreate the issue at will and have screen captures if
> > necessary.
> >
>
> This is interesting. I read through what everyone said on that link and so
> changed to WZC to check it out for myself. Doesn't happen here. My balloon
> tooltip just says I am connected without saying whether I am securely
> connected or not. Viewing available networks shows it is security enabled
> and shows a neighbour's network that says that network is unsecured, which
> it is (though the word "unsecure" seems wrong to me. I think it should be
> "insecure" but that's another issue).
>
> I use a Gigabyte USB wi-fi NIC on all my computers (my laptop being bought
> in 2002 was not centrino enabled thank goodness so it has a USB NIC as well.
> I find the PCMCIA cards useless in comparison to a USB NIC) and none of them
> reflect the problem you are having.
>
> So, what I would ask you to do to test for yourself is, if you have access
> to another brand of wi-fi NIC other than the one you use, to install it and
> see if the problem continues. I don't mean to say the stuff you use is not
> secure or is, in some way, buggy but I always like to try and find out if
> that is a possibility.
>
> I have also used D-Link NICs and they don't do that, nor does any Netgear
> NIC of which I am aware.
>
> It is quite possible that somewhere, someone is using the same SSID as yours
> and is in close range but I doubt that is the case. What I think is possibly
> more likely is that you are using WPA or WPA2 and for some reason your NIC's
> driver is not communicating details properly and that if you used just WEP
> for a test, that balloon tip with "unsecured" would go away. If you test
> with WEP only and it shows as linking in secured, I would be emailing the
> maker of your NIC and telling them they have a problem.