My laptop only seems to support WEP encryption, how do I get WPA2?

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Summary: Selecting WPA or WPA2 encryption is important, but not all hardware supports it. We'll look at what to do if your computer doesn't support WPA2.

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As has been mentioned before, WEP encryption should be considered about as safe as no encryption at all. Software to crack it, and crack it quickly, has been available for some time. WEP had its day, and that day has passed.

The "next best" is WPA, which some recent reports indicate may have been cracked. It's unclear what the true risk and practical impact of that might be.

WPA2, however, remains solid and should be considered "the way to go".

What if your computer won't let you go there?

That might actually be a problem, but there are solutions.

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In most cases, the ability to support various levels of encryption is actually a function of the wireless hardware being used. That means that there are wireless adapters that can support WEP just fine, but cannot support WPA or WPA2 no matter what you do. There's no way to just "turn it on in Windows" because it's not Windows that's the limiting factor, it's the hardware.

However, before assuming the worst the thing to do is, as you indicated, to make sure you have the latest drivers for your specific wireless adapter. That typically means going to the support site for your computer's manufacturer and locating the driver software either based on the specific model of your computer, or the specific model of the wireless adapter installed in it.

Download and install that driver, and examine the resulting capabilities before throwing in the towel.

Unfortunately, and specifically since you're bringing up WEP, it's possible that your computer is old enough that drivers or other support information might just not be available. WPA's been around for a while, which implies that most WEP-only devices are actually fairly old.

If that's the case then in all honesty, the easiest solution is to simply get another wireless adapter. They're not expensive, and can be had in a variety of form factors. In particular, a plug-in USB wireless adapter seems ideal for the scenario you're outlining. You need to disable the old internal adapter and you should be good to go.

Related:

• Is cellular broadband more secure than WiFi? Cellular is a popular internet connection alternative. As with any connection it's important to understand the security ramifications and tradeoffs.

• How do I know if I have WPA or WEP I can use when traveling? Wireless encryption hardware support is actually only half the battle. Knowing whether or not it will be used is the other. And it likely will not.

• Wireless Encryption: do I need it? Wireless Encryption is somewhat mysterious. Wireless encryption is something you likely need to keep your network, and your data, secure.

Article C3865 - September 12, 2009