Not only do I tend to agree with manny, but also my layman's point of view leads me to believe that specifying your devices' MAC addresses is a better practical/human means of security against war drivers than any WEP or "ultra" WEP key (what do they call the new one, WKA or something?).
I just don't see how it's possible for someone to fake an existing MAC address that's specific to your laptop, specific to your 8125, or specific to any other device on your router's list of acceptable devices.
To do that, an intruder would not only need software expertise, but also hardware expertise. They'd have to hope your MAC addr isn't already being used, otherwise you might be able to tell that something fishy's going on -- I wonder what routers do if they get 2 devices claiming to have the same MAC addr?
Also, an intruder can't ramp up the intrusion because only so many devices have access, whereas once your WEP is cracked, any number of devices transmitting your WEP gets access to your wifi. My conclusion is that WEP is a software-only issue and thus the sky's the limit in a worst-case scenario. I'm not so sure the sky's the limit in the worst-case scenario for MAC security breach.
But what do I know.
However, you definitely should have some kind of basic security in place, if nothing else because as with my Netgear router, there's usually a default DHCP server (192.168.0.1 for Netgear) and there's also a default login and password when you open the box; the average Joe does not bother to change the login/pwd.
In fact, at one point in my problem-solving, I accidentally got access to a neighbor's router (we have very similar SSIDs) who had no WEP in place and obviously neither of us had bothered to change our login/pwds to access 192.168.0.1. I actually ended up changing his router's settings but luckily I figured out what was happening and changed his back.
Anyways, for your particular situation, perhaps the SDIO adapter does not have the same options for security on your router as you have been using for your laptop? Maybe that's why it only works when WEP is off.
I recommend just ridding yourself of security keys and using your router's list of acceptable device MAC addresses, since you know you can connect without WEP keys invoked. Then you don't have to worry about security key compatibility between 8125 and router.
I'm actually using MAC id's instead of WEP only because I'm sick and tired of typing in the long, long string of hex, esp. on the 8125's tiny little onscreen keypad -- and MAC adds that element of hardware obstacle. Practically speaking, think if you had to do a hard reset on the 8125, then you gotta type that sucker in again. Not so when utilizing MAC addrs.  |