Invalid bug report previously, raises usability question.



Hi again.

It seems that my previous bug report was invalid. I have already closed the 
bug and added a comment explaining it.

I had missed one combination when trying to connect to the wireless network, 
namely selecting "Open System" and "WEP Passphrase". Using that combination 
brought up the wireless network without a hitch.

But this mess of mine raises a question of why the UI has to be this 
complicated (I know, I know... most of you are probably thinking that it 
isn't and you're probably right... but let's say for arguments sake that I'm 
the typical idio... I mean user). Maybe it really is necessary, I am not 
anywhere close to being any sort of an expert on wireless networks (as is 
clearly evident from my screwup before).

But just bear with me here (and this may be a discussion that has already come 
up and been settled, apologies if that's the case).

1) Why does a user have to select between HEX and ASCII? It isn't difficult at 
all to take the string that is entered, check how many characters it has and 
whether there are any non-hex characters and tell from that what kind it is.

2) Passphrase may be a little more difficult to "autodetect"... I'm not quite 
sure how exactly that works anyways so I shouldn't really say anything here. 
Is there anyone who sees a way of eliminating that choice as well? Of course, 
one way would be to say that if it's not an ASCII or a HEX key, then it 
probably is a passphrase, and if it looks like an ASCII or HEX key but 
doesn't work as such, then try it as a passphrase? I don't know... just an 
idea.

3) Open System vs. Shared Key? I have no idea what the difference between the 
two is!? Is there no way to autodetect this? Would a brute-force way (trying 
one and then the other) be possible here?

Is there any way of simplifying these things in the UI?

Kind regards, Stefan Freyr.

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