WPA2 Enterprise authentication not working

  • Thread starter Thread starter Glenn Nelson
  • Start date Start date
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Glenn Nelson

I am unable to authenticate using WPA2 Enterprise - WPA Personal is fine. I
have Dell Inspiron 1505, Dell wireless 1390, Vista Home Premium. It's been a
while since I tried to do this at work, and I have no way of testing it
today. The wireless would find the network, and eventually pop up an
authentication dialog. I entered username and password and then there was
either some failure or the dialog came up again, unfortunately my memory of
it is hazy.

Our sysadmin says he has heard that WPA2 Enterprise is broken in Vista, but
he has never been able to find an article that confirms this.

I've called Dell a few times about this, and one time I was told that this
was a known issue with Vista, but no fixes were available.

Anyone have any clues for me?
 
try the latest driver
http://support.us.dell.com/support/...eid=R164287&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=220561


I am unable to authenticate using WPA2 Enterprise - WPA Personal is fine. I
have Dell Inspiron 1505, Dell wireless 1390, Vista Home Premium. It's been a
while since I tried to do this at work, and I have no way of testing it
today. The wireless would find the network, and eventually pop up an
authentication dialog. I entered username and password and then there was
either some failure or the dialog came up again, unfortunately my memory of
it is hazy.

Our sysadmin says he has heard that WPA2 Enterprise is broken in Vista, but
he has never been able to find an article that confirms this.

I've called Dell a few times about this, and one time I was told that this
was a known issue with Vista, but no fixes were available.

Anyone have any clues for me?
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
 
Thank you, I will (after the new year). This new driver was released
12/12/2007 - it's taken them a year.
 
No joy. I installed the new drivers, but still have the same problem. It just
keeps on asking me again and again for "additional information". My username
and password are valid, but connection cannot be established. I thought maybe
the DHCP broadcast was a problem, as described in article kb928233, but I
applied that fix months ago, and it also did not help.

Other discussions (finally found them!) at DSL Reports
(http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18604448-Vista-WPA2-Enterprise-wont-retain-usernamepassword)
lead me to believe that this problem is tied to the Dell 1390 wireless.

In any case, I've been SOL for using the computer at work for 9 months now.
(And yes, I do despise Vista).
 
does your sysadmin have a pccard/express card (don't know what slot
your computer has) with an Atheros chipset that you can use to test
with? or do you know someone that has one?

No joy. I installed the new drivers, but still have the same problem. It just
keeps on asking me again and again for "additional information". My username
and password are valid, but connection cannot be established. I thought maybe
the DHCP broadcast was a problem, as described in article kb928233, but I
applied that fix months ago, and it also did not help.

Other discussions (finally found them!) at DSL Reports
(http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18604448-Vista-WPA2-Enterprise-wont-retain-usernamepassword)
lead me to believe that this problem is tied to the Dell 1390 wireless.

In any case, I've been SOL for using the computer at work for 9 months now.
(And yes, I do despise Vista).
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
 
So far no luck finding Atheros chipset. Why do you recommend Atheros? Is it
because they're virtually the only ones who do wireless right?

My laptop only has USB and PCI Express, and at work we don't have any such
wireless adapters.

There is supposedly a page on the Atheros web site that lists adapters that
use their chipsets. Unfortunately this page is either 404 or bad database
connection.

Of course when you go to individual manufacturers web sites, they are loath
to reveal when they use Atheros. And then there's the problem that even if
card x.y.z uses Atherors in version 2, it might not use it in version 2.1.

There are 3rd party lists of wireless that use Atheros, but some that I've
found are too old to be useful.

I know this reply is not terribly useful, I'm mostly just venting
frustration. Still, someone else may read this and glean knowledge.

I'll continue testing other adapters, and maybe try to engage Dell again.
It's tough with them, because they can't help me when I'm connected at home,
using WPA Personal, and they can't help me when I'm not connected at work
because WPA2 Enterprise doesn't work. We're not allowed to plugin to a wired
network here.
 
Reading this thread:
http://text.broadbandreports.com/forum/r18604448-Vista-WPA2-Enterprise-wont-retain-usernamepassword

and in particular the comment that there was no issue with the same
laptop with the Intel chipset, perhaps your IT folks have the 1505
with an Intel WiFi chip they can try?

I recommended Atheros because it is NOT Broadcom and I have not seen
any complaints about WPA2-Enterprise and Atheros.

PCI Express/Express Card - this one is definitely Atheros (I have
this card) http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=550

But I don't have an Enterprise network to test it with..

So far no luck finding Atheros chipset. Why do you recommend Atheros? Is it
because they're virtually the only ones who do wireless right?

My laptop only has USB and PCI Express, and at work we don't have any such
wireless adapters.

There is supposedly a page on the Atheros web site that lists adapters that
use their chipsets. Unfortunately this page is either 404 or bad database
connection.

Of course when you go to individual manufacturers web sites, they are loath
to reveal when they use Atheros. And then there's the problem that even if
card x.y.z uses Atherors in version 2, it might not use it in version 2.1.

There are 3rd party lists of wireless that use Atheros, but some that I've
found are too old to be useful.

I know this reply is not terribly useful, I'm mostly just venting
frustration. Still, someone else may read this and glean knowledge.

I'll continue testing other adapters, and maybe try to engage Dell again.
It's tough with them, because they can't help me when I'm connected at home,
using WPA Personal, and they can't help me when I'm not connected at work
because WPA2 Enterprise doesn't work. We're not allowed to plugin to a wired
network here.
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
 
After one week, Atheros FINALLY fixed their broken page - the one that was
supposed to display a list of products known to use Atheros chipset. Being
that I'm restricted to USB or PCI Express, I chose Netgear WPN111 - USB
adapter.
Installed, attempted to conenct, it says "We don't support WPA/WPA2 RADIUS
Security(802.1x)".

So that's it. Do you have any idea where to go from here? I'm still trying
to find out if this is Dell's fault or Microsoft. The direction I get from
your responses is that Dell is to blame for using the Broadcom chipset in the
1390 adapter.
 
As I said, I can't tell you from personal experience as I don't have
access to an Enterprise based wireless network. However,
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=384 states "For accessing secure
networks, this Wireless USB Adapter supports both WPA-Personal and
WPA-Enterprise" and it is certified for Vista:

http://winqual.microsoft.com/HCL/Pr...DWL-AG132 Wireless USB Adapter(rev.B)&oid=410

I reported what I found with other users of the Dell\Broadcom NIC.

Your laptop does not have a pccard slot??? Which Dell laptop do you
have?





After one week, Atheros FINALLY fixed their broken page - the one that was
supposed to display a list of products known to use Atheros chipset. Being
that I'm restricted to USB or PCI Express, I chose Netgear WPN111 - USB
adapter.
Installed, attempted to conenct, it says "We don't support WPA/WPA2 RADIUS
Security(802.1x)".

So that's it. Do you have any idea where to go from here? I'm still trying
to find out if this is Dell's fault or Microsoft. The direction I get from
your responses is that Dell is to blame for using the Broadcom chipset in the
1390 adapter.
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
 
I am running into a similar (I think) problem with Intel Pro/Wireless
3945ABG. We have a cisco wireless network (Cisco 1200 APs) running WPA2
Enterprise (AES). When vista sees the network it will prompt for
username/password "Additional information is required" and just keep
repeating. I have tried the Juniper Odyssey supplicant (from Juniper.net) and
it works fine with Vista. Once I tell Odyssey to manage the wireless network
it will authenticate and connect to the network without any problems. I have
the latest intel drivers as well.
 
what exact version driver from Intel?

I am running into a similar (I think) problem with Intel Pro/Wireless
3945ABG. We have a cisco wireless network (Cisco 1200 APs) running WPA2
Enterprise (AES). When vista sees the network it will prompt for
username/password "Additional information is required" and just keep
repeating. I have tried the Juniper Odyssey supplicant (from Juniper.net) and
it works fine with Vista. Once I tell Odyssey to manage the wireless network
it will authenticate and connect to the network without any problems. I have
the latest intel drivers as well.
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
 
This is a dell D620, I have tried on another Vista Dell as well without any
luck.

This one had 11.1.1.22 (8/8/2007) installed at first, I upgraded to
11.5.0.32 (9/26/07).
 
I am thrilled - no, ECSTATIC - to report success.
Dell sent me Intel 3945ABG to replace the Dell 1390 (Broadcomm). This would
not work with original drivers (dated 6/21/2006, version 11.1.1.20). I
downloaded new drivers from Dell (R171132, dated 9/26/2007, version
11.5.0.32); the readme even mentions known issues with Proxim access points
(which we have here).

To get to this happy day, I had many annoying phone calls with Dell, and
much helpful advice from Barb Bowman.

My last interaction with Dell was nearly 2 hours. 1 hour with an arrogant
woman who insisted that I must get the network key from my sys admin; WPA2
Enterprise apparently does not have a fixed network key, it generates one for
each connection, so I could not oblige her, and she never believed me. When I
asked to talk to someone else, she told me that she was considered the best
technician there, so I would be wasting my time. The next hour with new
technician was a rehash and then mostly bureaucracy; in the first 5 minutes
she was convinced that I had already done more to solve this problem than she
could recommend; then we talked about what to do and ran hardware diagnostics
(just in case there was something else to be fixed); she agreed to send me
Intel 3945ABG and it arrived the next day.

Oh happy day.
 
Troy,
I heard back from Microsoft:

"I would recommend installing KB 932063
(http://support.microsoft.com/?id=932063). This will require the
customer to open a grace issue with Microsoft support. If after
installing the hotfix, he still cannot connect, then I would proceed
with gather the wireless debug tracing to help identify the issue.
The instructions are below.



Run the following command from a elevated CMD prompts

- Netsh wlan set tracing mode = yes

- netsh ras set tr * en

- Reproduce your problem

- netsh ras set trac * dis

- Netsh wlan set tracing mode = no



You can gather the logs from:

%windir%\tracing

"





Please zip the data and provide an email address and I will email
you instructions on where to send it.



This is a dell D620, I have tried on another Vista Dell as well without any
luck.

This one had 11.1.1.22 (8/8/2007) installed at first, I upgraded to
11.5.0.32 (9/26/07).
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
 
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