Hardware and software setup

Beeline wireless network security key how to find out. Setting up a wireless network security key

Personal data and files on a wireless network can sometimes be accessed by unauthorized people intercepting the network signal. This can lead to identity theft and other malicious activities. A network security key or passphrase can help protect your wireless network from such unauthorized access.

Follow the Network Setup Wizard to set up a security key.

Note.

  • We do not recommend using WEP to secure your wireless network. More secure is Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA or WPA2). If you try to use WPA and WPA2 and they don't work, we recommend that you replace your network adapter with an adapter that supports WPA or WPA2. All network devices, computers, routers, and access points must also support WPA or WPA2.

Encryption methods for wireless networks

There are three types of wireless encryption available today: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2), Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), and 802.1x. The first two methods are detailed in the following sections. The 802.1x protocol is typically used in corporate networks and is not covered here.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2)

WPA and WPA2 require the user to provide a security key to connect. After the key is verified, all data transmitted between the computer or device and the access point is encrypted.

There are two types of WPA authentication: WPA and WPA2. Use WPA2 whenever possible, as it provides the most security. Almost all new wireless network adapters support WPA and WPA2, but some older models do not. In WPA Private and WPA2 Private, all users are assigned the same passphrase. This mode is recommended for home networks. WPA-Enterprise and WPA2-Enterprise are designed to be used with an 802.1x authentication server that provides different keys to all users. This mode is mainly used in work networks.

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) protocol

WEP is an older method of securing a network. It is still available to support legacy devices, but its use is deprecated. When WEP is enabled, the network security key is configured. This key encrypts information that a computer transmits over a network to other computers. However, WEP protection is relatively easy to crack.

There are two types of WEP security methods: open system authentication and pre-shared key authentication. Neither provides a high level of security, but the shared key authentication method is less secure. For most computers and wireless access points, the shared key authentication key is the same as the static WEP encryption key that is used to secure the network. An attacker who intercepts messages for successful public key authentication can use analysis tools to determine the public key authentication key and then the static WEP encryption key. Once a static WEP encryption key is determined, an attacker can gain full access to the network. For this reason, this version of Windows does not automatically support network configuration through WEP pre-shared key authentication.

If, despite these warnings, authentication using shared WEP keys is required, follow these steps.

When connecting to a Wi-Fi wireless network, users are often faced with the need to enter some kind of network security key. In this article, we will tell you what a Wi-Fi wireless network security key is, as well as how to find out this key using the settings of the router, computer or laptop on which it is saved.

In order to understand what a security key is, we need to say a few words about the different types of Wi-Fi networks. A Wi-Fi network can be open or secure. An open network is not secure in any way, and you do not need to enter any data to connect to such a network. Anyone can connect to an open network, the main thing is to be within the network. This is very convenient for providing Internet access in public places. A secure network, on the contrary, is closed to casual users. Secure networks are commonly used to build office, work, and home wireless networks. In order to connect to such a network, you need to know a secret set of characters, which is called the Wi-Fi security key or password.

In general, a Wi-Fi security key is a password that you need to know in order to connect to a network. When you connect to a secure network, the device you are using will definitely ask you to enter a security key or password. After entering this information, the correctness of the entered password is checked, and if the password is correct, then the connection is made. If the password is incorrect, then the connection is broken.

It should be noted that there is some confusion in terms here. On some devices (for example, on mobile gadgets with the Android or iOS operating system), this security key is called a password. That is, the user is asked to enter a password, and he immediately understands what is required of him to connect to the network.

At the same time, on laptops and computers with the Windows operating system, a more correct name is used, namely “security key”. The use of the term "security key" often confuses inexperienced users because they do not understand what is required of them.

How to find out the wireless network security key

The Wi-Fi security key is installed on the device that creates this wireless network. It can be a wireless router or a Wi-Fi access point. Therefore, the most reliable way to find out the Wi-Fi security key is to go to the settings of the router or access point and see.

In order for you to first connect to the network of this router. This can be done via cable or Wi-Fi (when connected via Wi-Fi, access to the settings may be blocked). Next, you need to open any browser and enter the IP address of the router in the address bar (usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1).

After that, you will be prompted to enter a username (login) and password. The standard login and password are often indicated on the underside of the router, and this information is also in the instructions for the router.

After entering your username and password, you will be taken to the web interface of the router. Here you need to find the section with Wi-Fi settings. Usually this section is called Wi-Fi, Wireless network, WLAN or Wireless network. In the Wi-Fi settings section, you can find the security key needed to connect.

If you have a computer on which the security key is saved, then you can do it without going into the router settings. To do this, open the "Network and Sharing Center". In Windows 7, to do this, right-click on the network connection icon or go to the "Control Panel" and open the "Network and Internet - Network and Sharing Center" section

In Windows 10, the easiest way to do this is to use the Run menu. Press the key combination Windows-R and run the command "control.exe /name Microsoft.NetworkandSharingCenter".

In the "Network and Sharing Center" window, click on the "Manage wireless networks" link.

Here you need to find the desired Wi-Fi network, right-click on it and go to "Properties".

As a result, a window with the properties of the selected Wi-Fi network will appear. To view the saved security key, go to the "Security" tab and enable the "Show entered characters" option. After that, the data you need will appear in the "Network Security Key" text box.

If you do not have access to the router and do not have a saved password on your computer, then you need to contact the system administrator or Internet provider that maintains your Wi-Fi wireless network for help.

Wireless wi-fi surrounds the life of a modern person, and it is no longer possible to imagine everyday life without us connecting to all kinds of networks - open and closed. To connect to them for the first time, you need to know the access code (security key) to the dispenser.

What is a wireless network security key and how to find it on your router using simple and understandable methods, more on that below!

All about WiFi security key

What is a Wi-Fi network security key and how to find it? This is a set of alphabetic and numeric characters of both registers, which is sewn into the system and into the distributing router itself. Its presence and the directly unique combination of these characters give us the right to hope that the system is hack-resistant and no one will be able to gain unauthorized access to wireless Wi-Fi, will not be able to find out the password. I mean, it's safe.

Agree - there are no wires, the physical connection is not visible. How do we know that we are the only users of our network, where we spend our personal time, and for which we pay our hard-earned money? Maybe someone managed to find out the password for accessing wireless wi-fi and he uses it on a par with you? That is why modern encryption according to the latest protocols is a guarantee of Wi-Fi security - the key is built in such a complex way that it is difficult to recognize it. Therefore, when choosing the right one, focus on the following:

  • ease of setting up the modem;
  • availability of modern security protocols and network encryption;
  • the range of the transmitter of the device that distributes the Wi-Fi wireless network signal - this factor determines how far you can be from the router and receive a decent signal level;
  • the ability of the router to transmit a stable signal through concrete barriers and walls of premises;
  • the maximum possible number of simultaneously connected devices to the wi-fi router.

Now about where to get the security key for the wireless network and where to find it. The easiest way to find out this combination is to take it and look at it. Let's say right away that it will be described here and how to find and how to enter this key. If necessary, you can not only recognize it, but also change it.

For this:


The Wi-Fi wireless network access key can also be found in the Control Panel of a computer on Windows 10. To do this:

  1. In the lower right on the main Windows screen, we find the wireless network icon (indicated in red in the screenshot) and click on it. This brings up the connection menu, in which we select the "Network and Sharing Center" item.

  2. We find the current active wireless network in the lower right part of the screen and click on it.

  3. This will open the network status screen. In the window that opens, click the "wireless network properties" button.
  4. In the newly opened window, click on the "Security" tab. How to view wifi security password? Check the box next to "Show input characters". After the manipulations have been done, the current wi-fi access password will be displayed in the "Network Security Key" line.

Sometimes it happens that you want to connect to a wireless Wi-Fi network and you can even find out the password for it, but the system issues an “Invalid security key” in response to your attempts to establish a connection. What to do in this case and where to get the key? No matter how trite it may sound, the point is most likely that you are entering this security key incorrectly. Check again, the case of the characters you enter (it can be upper and lower), see if you are confusing zero (0) with the letter o (o). The password is tricky. Everything matters there.

If the matter turned out to be not about you, do any of the above manipulations in order to make sure that it is spelled correctly. The easiest method is the penultimate one, if you have not yet established a connection.

How to find the network security key?



It is not for nothing that Microsoft employees pay great attention to ensuring network security. The measures taken by them allow the owners of installed Windows not to worry that intruders will use their data. The users themselves can only save the passwords automatically created during configuration and not transfer them to outsiders. At the same time, it is possible to find out the network security key in case it is lost.

home group

The homegroup password is required to protect your network from unauthorized connections from other computers. It is automatically generated and provided to the user after the creation of the homegroup itself. The algorithm for recovering a lost code looks like this:

  1. press the "Start" button;
  2. click on the link "Control Panel";
  3. in the window that opens, select the "Network and Internet" item;
  4. click on the inscription "Network and Sharing Center";

The displayed code should be written out and used to join another computer to this homegroup.

If the system notification area of ​​the desktop (lower right corner) is configured to display the connections icon, it will be even easier to find the network security key. For this:

  1. right-click on the connections icon (depending on the installed theme, it may look different);
  2. select "Network and Sharing Center";
  3. here we click on the link "Homegroup" (lower left corner);
  4. in the new window, select the item “Show or print the password for the homegroup”.

This key is not a WiFi network password (SSID). It is only needed to add computers to the created homegroup. You can find out how to find out the wireless network security key in our article.

The wi-fi network security key, what it is and how to recognize or find it - this will be discussed in the article. In order for the WiFi network to be protected from outsiders, a network security key was invented. It prevents unauthorized connection to the network, and also prevents interception of traffic (even if an attacker gets it, he will not be able to use this information, since it will be securely encrypted).

In essence, the network security key is a set of characters that encrypts the connection between all devices included in the local network. There are two common types of data encryption in WiFi networks - WPA and WPA2. The first is now practically not used due to security problems. However, the key derivation process does not depend on the type of encryption.

Before a connection to the network is established between your device and the router, the router will require a correct response to the invitation, which, in fact, is the security key. Simply put, the WiFi security key is the password for the wireless network.

Occasionally, a situation may occur when the owner (or full user) of the network, for example, forgets the WiFi password, and as a result loses access to it (cannot connect). But it's not a problem. Restoring access is very easy. Often, all you need to do is reset the router settings. But if for some reason it is impossible to reset the router configuration to default (default settings), then you can go the other way.

How to find the Wi-Fi network security key

So, suppose that the Wi-Fi network security key was forgotten, how to find it out now? The method depends on what platform the client device is running on. Two systems will be considered below - Windows (latest versions) and Android, and a method for obtaining a key from the control panel of the router will also be described.

The Windows operating system saves information about all connections that it has ever established (unless, of course, the user himself has intentionally erased this data).

To get a security key for WiFi, you need to go to the "Network and Sharing Center" (click on the corresponding icon on the taskbar). After that, in the list that appears, you will need to find the name of the desired network, click on it, and select the "Properties" item in the context menu that appears. In the window that opens, you will need to check the checkbox with the label “Display entered characters”, after which the required password will be displayed in the text field “Network security key”.

Find out the network security key for Android
Now consider another question: how to find out the network security key on Android. Here, it should be noted that the process of obtaining a WiFi password is somewhat more complicated than on desktop Windows.

It will not be possible to pull it out through the regular system interface, so you will need to look for the key in the system files. But there is one caveat here - access to them can only be obtained when Root is obtained on the device. The method of obtaining superuser rights depends on the device model (relevant information can be obtained on specialized sites).

But suppose the phone/tablet has Root. In this case, you will additionally need to install a third-party file manager, with which you can access the system partition. The most popular such application is Root Explorer (distributed for free through Google Play).

After installation, you will need to open the application and grant it superuser rights. Then you need to go to the folder located at: data/music/wifi. It will contain many files, but wifi passwords are stored in only one of them - wpa_supplicant.conf. We open it with any application that can read text documents (for example, through a web browser) and look for the name you need for the network. Next to it will be present and the desired security key.
It seems difficult, but in reality, not so much. However, if you don’t want to search for this data yourself, you can use a special application and make the task easier, but more on that below.

Get the security key in the router control panel

To find out the WiFi security key in the control panel of the router, you must first connect to it. To do this, we find out the IP address of the device (it is usually written on a sticker located on the bottom of the equipment). If it is not there, then from a computer running Windows, enter the ipconfig command, and look for the “default gateway”, the value of which will be the address of the router.

The received IP is entered into the address bar of the browser, in the welcome dialog box, enter the username and password, and enter the system. Next, we find the Wireless tab, and the Wireless Security subsection. There we are looking for a field with the PSK Password label - what is written in it is the security key.

It should be noted that the name of the sections may differ depending on the model of the router. Also, in the panels of some routers, before the corresponding interface elements appear, you must click on "Advanced settings".

Programs that allow you to find out the security key

For Android devices There are many applications in the Google Play Market that allow you to retrieve information about security keys. And all of them, it should be noted, require root rights. The most popular of these is WiFi Pass, which is free and has a very simple interface.

After downloading, you will need to run it, and then grant it the required privileges. When this is done, a list of networks to which the device has ever connected will be displayed. We are looking for the name of the desired WiFi, and tap on the eye icon, after which the security key will be displayed on the screen.

It should be noted that the list may not include the desired network. It's okay - tapping on the button with arrows in the upper right corner of the screen will update the list, after which the name of the desired wi-fi will be displayed on the screen.

Wi-fi analyzer is simply a necessary tool when sometimes in everyday life, when using Wi-Fi networks, the most…

Liked the article? Share with friends!
Was this article helpful?
Yes
Not
Thanks for your feedback!
Something went wrong and your vote was not counted.
Thank you. Your message has been sent
Did you find an error in the text?
Select it, click Ctrl+Enter and we'll fix it!