# Why does the Vista laptop not play nice with the encrypted WiFi?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-vista-laptop-not-play-nice-with-the-encrypted-wifi/490276>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 21, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-vista-laptop-not-play-nice-with-the-encrypted-wifi/490276 "2009-03-21T18:05:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-vista-laptop-not-play-nice-with-the-encrypted-wifi/490276/1 "2009-03-21T18:05:43Z")

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After I’d completed setting up the wireless, and everything worked fine – i.e. both my XP desktop and my father’s Vista laptop connected to the internet without any problem --, I thought, hey, now let’s up the security on this thing! So I activated the router’s WEP encryption (older model that doesn’t support WPA), entered the key on my desktop, everything works fine. Enter key on dad’s laptop, it just kinda looks at me uncomprehendingly, drooling a little out of the corner of its mouth – i.e. while it connects to the network, it claims a lack of connectivity and doesn’t go online. If I remove the encryption, everything works fine again. Anybody got an idea as to what’s happening there?

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**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-vista-laptop-not-play-nice-with-the-encrypted-wifi/490276/2 "2009-03-21T18:20:04Z")

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OK, so I’ve tried it again, now it works; perhaps I just had a typo in the key (but wouldn’t it then tell me something about the key being wrong?)… Anyway, I guess this thread might as well be closed.

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**Author:** ![Iamametalrobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@Iamametalrobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iamametalrobot)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-vista-laptop-not-play-nice-with-the-encrypted-wifi/490276/3 "2009-03-22T12:50:11Z")

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Not related to your problem, but I really recommend you get a newer router that supports WPA encryption. WEP is completely broken, and within minutes anyone nearby could use your router or snoop on your stuff.