How to recover your wireless network WPA–PSK key from a Belkin router.

A few years ago I set up my parent's Belkin wireless ADSL modem/router to use WPA-PSK. I set the key to a randomly generated 64 character hex string. Over kill maybe, but it's as easy to use a string of the maximum allowable length as it is to use a shorter one. I gave the parents a copy of this key on paper along with other details and told them not to loose it. The location of this piece of paper is now unknown. I had a copy of the key on an old flash drive which turns out to be kaput.

Oh well I thought, just look at the relevant config page on the router and it'll show the key. Or so you'd think. But no. What is shows you is a text input field, (stupidly short I might add given the potential length of the key but such poor form design is sadly all too common),  containing a bunch of small black circles. (Or possibly * depending on your browser.) Nowhere does it display what your key is currently set to nor is there an option anywhere to display it. At least none which I or my brother in law could find. Which is mind numbingly unhelpful.

This left me stumped for a little while and I cursed the stupidity of people who would design an interface which allows you to change a setting but won't tell you what that setting currently is. I could just change the key, but that would mean reconfiguring my Dad's laptop and the wireless ethernet bridge on my Mum's desktop. Neither or which was appealing, especially the bridge which I recall as having a configuration UI created by either sadists or people who simply lacked the necessary skills or inclination to do the job well.

Then it occurred to me that the router knows the key, the field for the key contains 64 unknown characters and I recall the key I set was 64 characters long. So presumably what's in the field is the key I set. So it must be possible to find out what it is.  And it is. So now we arrive at the point of this rambling entry, how to see what the key is. Specifically how to see it using Firefox, but one of the methods should be easily transferable to other browsers.

1. Method one it the simplest. View the source. Right click near the field, and select  This Frame > View Frame Source. In the window that opens search for the string wpaPskKey= and there is your key.
2. Method two is to use Firebug to view the source.
3. Method three is to use Firebug to change the value of the field's type attribute from password to text, thus meaning the contents of the field is no longer obscured.
   

Mike Willis : 25 Jan 2009 21:52 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem