G Wireless Router

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USING THE WEB-BASED ADVANCED USER INTERFACE

Securing your Wi-Fi

®

Network

Here are a few different ways you can maximize the security of your

wireless network and protect your data from prying eyes and ears� This

section is intended for the home, home office, and small office user�

At the time of this User Manual’s publication, there are four encryption

methods available�

Name

64-Bit Wired

Equivalent

Privacy

128-Bit Wired

Equivalent

Privacy

Wi-Fi Protected

Access-TKIP

Wi-Fi Protected

Access 2

Acronym

64-bit WEP

128-bit WEP

WPA-TKIP/AES (or

just WPA)

WPA2-AES (or just

WPA2)

Security

Good

Better

Best

Best

Features

Static keys

Static keys

Dynamic key

encryption

and mutual

authentication

Dynamic key

encryption

and mutual

authentication

Encryption

keys based on

RC4 algorithm

(typically

40-bit keys)

More secure

than 64-bit

WEP using a

key length of

104 bits plus

24 additional

bits of system-

generated

data

TKIP (Temporal

Key Integrity

Protocol) added

so that keys

are rotated and

encryption is

strengthened

AES (Advanced

Encryption

Standard) does

not cause any

throughput loss

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

WEP is a common protocol that adds security to all Wi-Fi-compliant

wireless products� WEP was designed to give wireless networks the

equivalent level of privacy protection as a comparable wired network�

64-Bit WEP

64-bit WEP was first introduced with 64-bit encryption, which includes

a key length of 40 bits plus 24 additional bits of system-generated data

(64 bits total)� Some hardware manufacturers refer to 64-bit as 40-bit

encryption� Shortly after the technology was introduced, researchers

found that 64-bit encryption was too easy to decode�

128-Bit WEP

As a result of 64-bit WEP’s potential security weaknesses, a more

secure method of 128-bit encryption was developed� 128-bit encryption

includes a key length of 104 bits plus 24 additional bits of system-

generated data (128 bits total)� Some hardware manufacturers refer to

128-bit as 104-bit encryption�

Most of the new wireless equipment in the market today supports both

64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption, but you might have older equipment

that only supports 64-bit WEP� All Belkin wireless products will support

both 64-bit and 128-bit WEP�

G Wireless Router

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USING THE WEB-BASED ADVANCED USER INTERFACE

Encryption Keys

After selecting either the 64-bit or 128-bit WEP encryption mode, it is

critical that you generate an encryption key� If the encryption key is

not consistent throughout the entire wireless network, your wireless

networking devices will be unable to communicate with one another

on your network and you will not be able to successfully communicate

within your network�

You can enter your key by typing in the hex key manually, or you can

type in a passphrase in the “Passphrase” field and click “Generate” to

create a key� A hex (hexadecimal) key is a combination of numbers and

letters from A–F and 0–9� For 64-bit WEP, you need to enter 10 hex

keys� For 128-bit WEP, you need to enter 26 hex keys�

For instance:

AF 0F 4B C3 D4 =

64-bit WEP key

C3 03 0F AF 0F 4B B2 C3 D4 4B C3 D4 E7

= 128-bit WEP key

The WEP passphrase is NOT the same as a WEP key� Your Router uses

this passphrase to generate your WEP keys, but different hardware

manufacturers might have different methods on generating the keys�

If you have multiple vendors’ equipment in your network, the easiest

thing to do is to use the hex WEP key from your Router or access

point and enter it manually into the hex WEP key table in your Router’s

configuration screen�

Wi-Fi Protected Access

™

(WPA

™

)

WPA is a new Wi-Fi standard that was designed to improve upon the

security features of WEP� To use WPA security, the drivers and software

of your wireless equipment must be upgraded to support WPA� These

updates will be found on the wireless vendor’s website� There are two

types of WPA security: WPA-PSK and WPA2�

WPA-PSK uses what is known as a pre-shared key as the network

key� A network key is basically a password that is between eight

and 63 characters long� It can be a combination of letters, numbers,

or characters� Each client uses the same network key to access

the network� Typically, this is the mode that will be used in a home

environment�

WPA2

™

requires Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for encryption

of data, which offers much greater security than WPA� WPA uses both

Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) and (AES) for encryption�

G Wireless Router

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Sharing the Same Network Keys

Most Wi-Fi products ship with security turned off� So once you have

your network working, you need to activate WEP or WPA and make sure

your wireless networking devices are sharing the same network key�

The following diagram shows the effect of not having the correct

network key throughout your network�

Using a Hexadecimal Key

A hexadecimal key is a combination of numbers and letters from A–F

and 0–9� 64-bit keys are five two-digit numbers� 128-bit keys are 13

two-digit numbers�

For instance:

AF 0F 4B C3 D4 =

64-bit key

C3 03 0F AF 0F 4B B2 C3 D4 4B C3 D4 E7 =

128-bit key

In the boxes below, make up your key by writing in two characters

between A–F and 0–9 in each box� You will use this key to program the

encryption settings on your Router and your wireless computers�

Note to Mac users:

Original Apple

®

AirPort

®

products support 64-bit

encryption only� Apple AirPort 2 products can support 64-bit or 128-bit

encryption� Please check your product to see which version you are

using� If you cannot configure your network with 128-bit encryption, try

64-bit encryption�

G Wireless Router

Network key=

MyPassword

Network key=

MyPassword

Network key=

MyPassword

Network key=

WRONG Password

G Wireless USB

Network Adapter

G Wireless USB

Network Adapter

G Wireless USB

Network Adapter

The network adapter cannot access the network because it uses a

different network key than the one configured on the wireless router�

G Wireless Router

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WEP Setup

64-Bit WEP Encryption

1�

Select “WEP” from the “Security” menu’s “Allowed Client Type”�

2�

Select “64 bit” from the drop-down menu in “WEP Mode”�

3�

After selecting your WEP encryption mode, you can enter your

key by typing in the hex key manually, or you can type in your

passphrase� Click “Generate” to generate four different hex keys�

A hex (hexadecimal) key is a combination of numbers and letters from

A–F and 0–9� For 64-bit WEP, you need to enter 10 hex keys�

For instance:

AF 0F 4B C3 D4 =

64-bit WEP key

WARNING:

If you are configuring the G Wireless Router or access point

from a computer with a wireless client, you will need to reconnect to the

Router and set up the connection with the security key you’ve set up�

G Wireless Router

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128-Bit WEP Encryption

Note to Mac users:

The passphrase option will not operate with Apple AirPort� To configure encryption for your Mac computer, set the encryption

using the manual method described in the next section�

WARNING:

If you are configuring the G Wireless Router or access point

from a computer with a wireless client, you will need to reconnect to the

Router and set up the connection with the security key you’ve set up�

1�

Select “WEP” from the “Security” menu’s “Allowed Client Type”�

2�

Select “128 bit” from the drop-down menu in “WEP Mode”�

3�

After selecting your WEP encryption mode, you can enter your

key by typing in the hex key manually, or you can put a check

mark in “Passphrase”, then type in your passphrase� Click “Apply

Changes” to generate four different hex keys�

A hex (hexadecimal) key is a combination of numbers and letters from

A–F and 0–9� For 128-bit WEP, you need to enter 26 hex keys�

For instance:

C3 03 0F AF 0F 4B B2 C3 D4 4B C3 D4 E7 =

128-bit WEP key