locating WEP key and unlocking WIFI for a Nintendo DS

Hi. We have a Netgear WIFI router and are able to get WIFI just fine on the iPod and iPhone but for some reason the kids are unable to log in on their Nintendo DS lites. When they try it gives them an error message that says "The access point's securty settings are not supported by the Nintendo DS. For help, visit support.nintendo.com"  Well this website has proved unhelpful. It told me to check my computer's internet/wireless settings and to no avail... I am not very computer savvy, nor is my spouse. Can anyone help us?? Thank you!!

In addition to FoxFifth's comments that message indicates to me the encryption type on the router is different and not supported on the Nintendo DS device.

Some of the Nintendo support pages indicate the device only supports WEP encryption versus WPA2 or WPA.

WEP Key is a security setting for your router. WEP is the only security that is compatible with the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi Connection. You will need to set your router for WEP security -- or remove security on your router -- to use the Nintendo DS at this access point.

I got that from this page...

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/wfc/en_na/ds/editConnectionSettingsHelp.jsp

Beyond all of that and to actually find the encryption key/password/passphrase...

Open the Network and Sharing Center on a wireless Win 7 computer then select Manage wireless networks and look at the properties of your home wireless network, ie. highlight then right click on your home network. Click on the Security tab and check the Show characters checkbox. You can then simply copy-n-paste the encryption key/passphrase/password to a text file for later use.

http://cid-25ab668da65c8fbe.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Windows%20images/Showcharacters.png

...or you can use...

Windows Connect Now [WCN] to copy the wireless profile to a USB flash drive. Once you do that you can simply navigate to the \Smrtntky\Wsetting.txt file on the flash drive and see the key in clear text. You can then manually configure your Kindle.

Also note that some wireless routers will display the encryption key/passphrase/password in plain text. Log into the router admin pages and see if you can get the key that way.

In all cases make sure you document the encryption key/passphrase/password for later use...

My guess based on the Nintendo support site is that the problem is due to the following statement (note that 802.11g and N are most commonly used today but that the Nintendo device does not support those):

"Does your router use 802.11g?

If your router uses 802.11g, it may default to only the "g" band. This setting will not work with the Nintendo DS. Check your router's settings (typically in the "Wireless" tab) and make sure that it is set to "Auto," "Mixed," or something similar."

The above quote is from: http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/wfc/en_na/ds/wrSetupHelp.jsp  and that page may contain other useful information.

I also found the following information at: http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/wfc/en_na/ds/wrInitialSetupHelp.jsp#router_type

"What type of router (a, b, g, or N) is compatible with Nintendo WFC?

Nintendo WFC is compatible with 802.11b. Because 802.11g and 802.11n routers are also compatible with 802.11b, these routers will work as well, as long as the router's settings are not set to "g only" or "n only". "

They also have information for settings for specific routers at:  http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/wfc/en_na/routers/index.jsp