Wi-Fi Security Key: What is it? How to find out the network key

Personal data and files located on a wireless network can sometimes be seen by people receiving your network's radio signal. This may lead to identity theft and other malicious activities.

Network security key or passphrase will help protect your wireless network from such unauthorized access.

The Network Setup Wizard will help you install network security key.

Note Note: It is not recommended to use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) as a way to secure your wireless network. Wi-Fi Protected Access technology (WPA or WPA2) is more secure. If WPA or WPA2 technology does not work, it is recommended to replace the network adapter with one that works with WPA or WPA2. All network devices, computers, routers and access points also support WPA or WPA2.

Encryption Methods for Wireless Networks

There are currently three encryption methods for wireless networks: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2), Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and 802.1x. The first two methods are described in more detail below. 802.1x, which is typically used for corporate networks, is not covered in this section.

Wi-Fi Protected Access Technology (WPA and WPA2)

To connect using WPA and WPA2, you must have a security key. Once the key is verified, all data sent between your computer or device and the access point will be encrypted.

There are two types of WPA authentication: WPA and WPA2. Use WPA2 whenever possible as it is the most secure. Almost all new wireless adapters support WPA and WPA2, but there are some older models that do not support them.

WPA-Personal and WPA2-Personal provide users with the same passphrase. These types are recommended for use in home networks. WPA-Enterprise and WPA2-Enterprise are designed for use with an 802.1x authentication server, which creates a different key for each user. This type is typically used in work networks.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) Protocol

WEP is a previous generation network security method that is still available and supports older device models, but it is not recommended to use it. When activating WEP, you must configure a network security key. This encryption key is sent across a network from one computer to another. However, WEP security is relatively easy to break.

There are two types of WEP: open system authentication and shared key authentication. None of them are completely secure, but shared key authentication is the least secure type.

For most wireless computers and access points, the public authentication key is the same as the static WEP encryption key that is used to secure the network. An attacker can intercept the successful shared key authentication message and use sniffing tools to determine the shared authentication key and the static WEP encryption key.

Once the static WEP encryption key is determined, the attacker will have full access to the network. For this reason, this version of Windows does not support automatic network configuration using WEP shared key authentication.

If, despite these caveats, you still want to set up WEP authentication using a shared key, you can do so by following these steps.

Creating a Profile Using Shared Key WEP Authentication

1. Open the Network and Sharing Center window.
2. Click Set up a new connection or network.
3. Select Manually connecting to a wireless network and click Next.
4. On the page Enter information about the wireless network you want to add under the heading Type of protection select WEP.
5. Complete the remaining pages and click Next.
6. Click Connection setup.
7. Go to the tab Safety, in the list Type of protection select General.
8. Click OK.

Any user knows that when trying to connect to secure wireless networks, they often receive the message “Enter your network security key.” What kind of key this is, what it is needed for, how it is used, where to find it and how to determine it using various methods will be discussed further. Actually, every user already knows what it is, but perhaps they simply have no idea about the true state of affairs. In fact, after reading the material presented below, any user will no longer have all questions related to understanding the term itself and the methods used to determine such a key.

What is a network security key in general terms?

So, what is the understanding of this term? If anyone doesn’t know, the security of wireless networks is ensured by protection from unauthorized access to the network and encryption of transmitted and received data.

Moreover, the concept of a key is in no way related to the type of encryption used, but refers specifically to ensuring secure entry. As many have probably already guessed, the question of what a network security key is has only one correct answer: this is the most common access password, which is entered when prompted by the router. It can consist of any set of Latin letters, numbers and symbols.

How does this work?

In the question of what a network security key is, we cannot ignore some aspects related to how it works. The fact is that the request comes not from the wireless network itself, but from the router used (router or ADSL modem).

When you try to connect to the network defined by your computer, laptop or mobile device, a request is made from the device, which is recorded on the router. In turn, it ensures the security of wireless networks and gives you a kind of invitation to connect, but with mandatory confirmation of the access password, which in most cases, except for the use of programs that allow you to calculate the key, provides protection against unauthorized connection. We’ll look at the programs a little later, but for now let’s see how you can find out such a password in different systems and on different devices.

How to find out the network security key in Windows?

And first, let's look at Windows desktop operating systems in relation to users who, for some reason, have forgotten or lost their Wi-Fi passwords. What to do if a computer or laptop connects to the network without problems, but you need to access it from another device (for example, from a mobile device). Where can I get a network security key? This problem can be solved quite simply.

First, you need to go to the properties of the established connection using the Network and Sharing Center. You can call it either through the RMB menu on the connection icon, or go to the corresponding section through the “Control Panel”. The properties window uses the security tab, which contains the network name and password. But it is only displayed as dots. How to find out the network security key? Yes, just check the box next to the item for displaying entered characters, and the password will appear before your eyes.

Why is this happening? Yes, only because any operating system, even with a one-time connection, saves the entered network names and passwords for them, not to mention the connection that is used by default.

Obtaining a key on the router

In principle, if this option does not suit the user for some reason, you can take a longer route by using the router’s web interface to obtain it. To do this, you need to enter the settings through any web browser by entering combinations starting with 192.168, after which either 0.1 or 1.1 is added (for non-standard router models, the addresses may differ quite significantly).

After that, go to the Wireless connection section, and then in the Security subsection, find the field labeled PSK. What is written in it is the key you are looking for. If for some reason you cannot enter the router settings, enter the ipconfig combination on the command line and look in the default gateway field. This is the address of the router itself.

Defining a security key in Android

We figured out what a network security key is and how to find it out in Windows. Now let's see how to perform similar procedures on Android mobile systems. Everything is a little more complicated here.

If the password is not displayed normally in the connection settings, you will have to look for it in the system files, but to access them on the device you need to have Root rights and any file manager. In the manager, go sequentially through the Data/Music/WiFi directories, and in the latter, open a text document called wpa_supplicant.conf, after which in the text find the name of the network you are looking for. The corresponding key will be written next to the name.

Using specialized programs

On mobile systems, you can use the free WiFi Password Hacker utility, which, after launch, scans all connections ever made, and after selecting the desired network, displays the access password used for it on the screen.

If you need to find out the password to someone else's network, you will have to use a somewhat illegal technique called brute force. For Windows systems, the most suitable utility is Aircrack-ng, and for Android systems - WIBR. Using them is quite simple, so there is no point in focusing too much on this. But keep in mind that their use, if not illegal, is at least beyond the bounds of decency.

Instead of a total

That's all for consideration of issues related to the concept of a security key. Regarding the concept itself, only one conclusion can be drawn - this is the most common access password. As for how to recognize it, I think there shouldn’t be any special questions here, since this is done quite simply in any operating system. There may be problems with mobile devices if you do not have access rights to system directories, but to obtain the appropriate rights you can use, for example, the computer utility Kingo Root, which is first installed on the PC and then installs its own driver on the mobile device, after which you will have rights superuser.

In this article, we will look at an error that probably everyone who connects their computer to Wi-Fi via a wireless network will encounter. This is a mistake "Network security key mismatch", which appears in Windows 7 when connected to Wi-Fi. You can see this error not only in Windows 7. In Windows 8 and Windows 10 it also appears, although it looks a little different.

We simply select our Wi-Fi network from the list of networks available for connection, specify the password, and the error “Network security key mismatch” appears. It looks like this:

Nothing happens, and the password request for the Wi-Fi network simply appears again.

"Network security key mismatch" error on laptop. What to do?

Almost always, this error appears due to an incorrectly specified password. A computer is a machine, and if it says that the password is incorrect, then it is so.

• First of all, we check the password and enter it again.
• Uncheck "Hide characters" (if installed), to see the password you specify.
• Also, you need to check if Caps Lock is turned on. After all, the letter “a” and “A” are different characters in the password.
• Check the keyboard layout, the password must be entered in English letters.

If you have forgotten your password, you can look it up in the router settings, or on another computer that previously connected to this network. How to remember the password, I wrote in the article:.

If you couldn’t fix the “Network security key mismatch” error, then change the password on your Wi-Fi router according to these instructions: . With the new password everything should connect.

Error: "Invalid key or passphrase"

After entering the password and clicking the Ok button, a message may also appear in the pop-up window: "Invalid key or passphrase".

This error appears if you specify key of less than 8 characters (and you have WPA2 encryption method set). In such a situation, you need in the settings of your router set the correct password for the Wi-Fi network. I wrote in the instructions how to do this on different routers:

After setting the correct encryption method and password, your laptop will connect to the Wi-Fi network. If the error “Windows was unable to connect to...” appears, then I described the solution on the page.

If you have forgotten the password for the wireless network to which you are currently connected, you can easily find it out through your computer without downloading third-party software. This situation often occurs when guests come to you and ask to use the Wi-Fi network, but you connected it so long ago that you forgot all the passwords. If you have a Windows operating system installed, then you have two additional ways to find out the network security key through your computer. In other situations, it is better to view it in a browser through the router settings. Look at all the options in this article and choose the most convenient one for yourself.

How to find out the network security key in Windows

This operating system is quite flexible, so you can easily see the passwords and keys that you entered yourself. You just need to have access to a computer that is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

How to find out the network security key through the computer tray

• The fastest way to find out the WiFi password. Just look for the network icon in the tray on your computer. It is located next to the date and time, and may look like an antenna or network sign on a phone.
• Select the network from which you want to find out the password. Your computer must be connected to it.
  Right-click on its name.

• Select “Properties” from the list that appears.

• A window will open in which your password is written. By default, password characters are protected by display settings. Check the box next to the words “Display characters entered” to see the password.

How to find out the network security key through Network Sharing Center

If you cannot find out the password using the previous method for some reason. Then you can get to the properties window of this network in another way.

• Open your computer tray and click on the networks icon again. Click on the “Network and Sharing Center” link.

• Here you will see the connected wireless network, you need to click on the link in the middle of the window.

• In the window that appears, select the “Wireless Network Properties” field.

• Now go to the “Security” tab.

• You find yourself in the already familiar window with the password for the Wi-Fi connection. Check the box to display the symbols and find out your wireless network key.

How to find out the network security key through the router settings

This option is suitable for all operating systems, since you work directly with the router.

• You can access the settings of your router or router through a browser. Just enter the following port in the address bar: 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.0.1.1
• The default password and login for all routers is “admin” without quotes. If you changed this parameter, then enter your username and password.

• Once in the menu, select “Wireless Mode”.

• Now go to the “Wireless Security” tab.
• Here you can find the password for the Wi-Fi network in the “Wireless network password” item. Write it down and keep it in a safe place so you never forget it.