Surf SOHO issue with 64 Hex digit WPA2 Key issue

Product Discussion
1

I had a problem last year when trying to configure the Surf SOHO and the network would not be found. The Wifi LAN field would stay at “Scanning” and would not display any networks.

I was told to leave my router open so it could be logged into after 12am CT since someone on the support team in Malaysia would be logging in to look at it. Due to security reasons, this was not permittable then (and it isn’t now).

After more diagnosis this weekend, it appears that when I make the WPA2 key 64 hex digits, the SOHO starts to have problems. But when it’s 63 digits, there’s no issue.

Per the WPA2 standard (802.11i):

This key may be entered either as a string of 64 hexadecimal digits, or as a passphrase of 8 to 63 printable ASCII characters.

Are you guys distinguishing between a 63 character string and a value of 64 hexadecimal digits?

This seems to be exactly the issue I am running into. I know. The easy way out (but it isn’t) is to change all network devices to use a 63 character string. I really need the SOHO to accept the 64 digit hex value.

Thank you,
Niel

If it helps, I’ve also come across this for how the PSK is generated. Is there a chance the Surf SOHO might be calculating the PSK not only when the number of characters is 63 or less, but also when it’s 64 hex digits, when it isn’t supposed to calculate the PSK, but actually use the 64 digit hex value as the PSK? Just a thought.

PSK = PBKDF2(PassPhrase, ssid, ssidLength, 4096, 256)

The PSK is 32 bytes (256 bits), often displayed as 64 hex characters.

According to the 802.11i specification:

A pass-phrase is a sequence of between 8 and 63 ASCII-encoded characters. The limit of 63 comes from the desire to distinguish between a pass-phrase and a PSK displayed as 64 hexadecimal characters.

2

For the scanning issue, it should not related to the 64hex digit, it should be other thing that we need to further investigate.

Let reopen the support ticket and see what we can help here. I will follow up with you via support ticket.

1 Like
4

Hi Sitloongs,

This problem was resolved back in 2018 after an update to the firmware. I’ve recently had to connect the Surf SOHO back to the router with the 64 hex character pre shared key, and unfortunately the issue has returned.

If I shorten the key, it works fine. Trust me, I’d rather shorten the key and move on, but there are too many devices that would need to be switched over.

Can we look into what was done to resolve this last time and see if the changes are still in the current firmware?

Thank you.
Niel

5

Let me have a look and update you shortly.

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@Nielb

Checked the old ticket. It’s being sometimes for the old issue that have been fixed in 7.1.1 firmware. May i know the issue happen after you perform new firmware upgrade ? What is the firmware you are using now ?

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7

Hi Sitloongs,

Sorry for the late reply…things have been really crazy over here.

Currently the SOHO is at firmware 8.0.2 build 1480.

I went ahead and bit the bullet and reworked all the devices on the WiFi to use a text string instead of the 64 character HEX key. This router was provided a long time ago by Verizon (now being used by Frontier) and it was originally set up to use a 64 character HEX key. There are other devices out there that don’t handle the 64 character key properly that I’ve had to get support on too. It’s been something I’ve wanted to change, but haven’t had the downtime in the environment to be able to do (changing from the 64 character HEX key to an ASCII string). I completed this task the other day, so this shouldn’t be an issue for me with the SOHO or other future items on the network.

Thanks again and hopefully this thread helps someone else out if they run into this in the future.

Niel

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@Nielb

Let me further confirm this and i will get back to you ASAP

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@Nielb

Confirmed 8.0.2 having similar problem. We will fix this in coming firmware version 8.1.0.

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Thanks for the follow up and information!

Niel