I have the 770 but I think this question is not tablet-specific, more about my ignorance of 802.11. I dual-boot either the 2007HE or Fanoush's hacked 2006 OS.

I can connect to my shared-key wireless at home without problem. But I cannot connect to almost all "unsecured"--those with the little open padlock--wireless connections I see in the 770's list on clicking the little globe. I either get a connection error (most common, don't have the exact message text) or something about a "local-link" established. Either way I can't connect to the vast Internet.

So I wonder what the little unlocked padlock really means. I found little info about the local-link thing, but somewhere I think I read it means that a connection was established to a login page but the 770 doesn't show the page. At any rate, is there a way to more reliably use the unsecured networks that show up?

Are you sure that the unsecured networks are really networks and not just another wireless device or computer?

The detected networks can usually be connected to. When the signal is very weak, my N800 sometimes complains about being connected with a local-link IP ... sometimes it changes to a proper connections in a minute or two ... I guess the connection error is when the signal is too weak ...

My experience is that networks are displayed even when it is not possible for my N800 to connect .... I would say, try connecting to networks with at least 2 bars.

I checked 2 or 3 today...indeed, the ones I could check were ad-hoc. I shall keep checking to see if the pattern is ad-hoc == local-link.

It's a (most humorous) bug in windows XP...

http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ead.php?t=8358

Or it's an AP with DHCP disabled. I've run into those before at restaurants and the like where whomever set it all up thought they were "secure".
Laughable.
Define the access point then go in and use a static IP address in the common 192.168.1.x range. Especially if it say "linksys". A good thing to have on stored on the N800/N770 somewhere is the infamous list of default router passwords and build your own list of default DHCP ranges that the common routers use in case you run across "buffalo" or "belkin" or something generic where you KNOW all they did was disable DHCP but they still use the actual default range.
Usually works for me, although I crank up the sniffer tools for a few minutes to really nail down the IP range they're using.

Thanks for the info ! I usually run into this limitation at McDonald's here in Argentina. What wifi sniffer tools are you using ?

the aircrack-ng toolset and the wireless tools. Search around in here for more info.

Oh, that's quite interesting and amusing. Why would MS have such a blatant security problem--rebroadcast of another SSID--in their network software? They must have thought it would serve some purpose, but what?

is there aircrack-ng for n800?