NOOK color eReader having problems connecting to WEP secured WiFi

Recently I received a Nook Color eReader tablet. I had heard great things about its built in web browser and wireless capabilities. I eagerly powered it on and started the initial setup process. During this process, the device must connect to the Internet. Then I encountered the problem with the Nook not being able to connect to my WEP secured Wireless.

Some quick research online showed lots of people were having this problem and were getting quite frustrated. I also read about some truly pathetic tech support that was unable to resolve the problem.

Here is the solution that worked for me:

Short solution: Change the Network Authentication option for WEP security on your wireless router or access point from "Shared Key" to "Open." (Note, this does NOT mean you are turning off WEP security, you are just changing the way wireless clients authenticate.) You could probably also use a security option other than WEP, but I have not tested those.

Now, here's the long version of the solution:
With WEP encryption for a WiFi network, there are two different methods of "Network Authentication," "Open" and "Shared Key." I was using Shared Key authentication which is slightly more secure. My Nintendo Wii, Nokia N770 tablet, HP iPac Windows Mobile 2003 device, Windows 7 laptop, Vista laptop, XP laptop, and Ubuntu Linux netbook all had no problem with this. However, I usually have to go into advanced options on the client device and change the authentication option from "Open" to "shared key" before they would work. I noticed that the Nook Color had no advanced options for WEP security settings. I tried everything I could think of to get the Nook Color to work with my existing WEP settings. It absolutely would not work. Then, I changed the authentication method on my wireless router from WEP - Shared Key to WEP - Open... and then it worked PERFECTLY!

WEP - Shared Key is a pretty standard security option for WiFi. All of my other wireless devices supported this option regardless of age. So I find it a bit odd that the Nook Color did not. I am also quite alarmed at the poor tech support that other users in the Barns and Noble forums received when they tried to call to get phone support for this problem. Users were told everything from "Turn off WiFi security, WEP is not supported" to "Factory reset your Nook and try again" to "Contact the manufacturer of your wireless router."

Here's hoping that my little blog entry helps someone out there avoid some frustration and lets you start enjoying your new Nook Color. It really is a pretty neat tablet/eReader. Feel free to let me know if you found this useful or have any other comments or questions.