AirPort: How to configure Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" clients for LEAP authentication

If you select LEAP authentication on a Mac OS X 10.4.2 or later computer on which the AirPort 4.2 or later update has been installed, your authentication settings may be lost after restart, sleep, or location change. As a workaround, you should use the steps shown here, which will have the effect of configuring LEAP, even though you will choose WEP from the menu.

  1. Go to the Network pane of the System Preferences, show AirPort, and click the AirPort tab.
  2. Be sure the "By default, join" menu is set to "Preferred networks."

    Note: If you don't have "Preferred networks" as a choice, this means that your 10.4 system was upgraded from 10.3, and that you're still using a Location imported from 10.3 (Panther). In this situation, you experience Panther behavior instead of new Tiger features. You will need to create a new location to utilize Tiger features and complete these steps.

  3. Click the "+" button.
  4. Enter the desired network name in the window that appears.
  5. From the Wireless Security pop-up menu, choose WEP Password.
  6. Replacing username and password with actual name and password, enter them exactly as show here, including both brackets and slash:

    <username/password>

    Note: Though there will not be any visible indication, this entry format sets the client to use LEAP rather than WEP.

  7. Click OK. Note: The network entry will appear in the table as "WEP," but LEAP will be used.
  8. Click Apply Now.
Published Date: Feb 19, 2012