NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

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Safeguarding Your Network

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•

If

WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK Authentication

is used:

–

Passphrase

: ______________________________

These characters

are

case sensitive.

Enter a word or group of printable characters. When you use WPA-PSK, the other devices

in the network will not connect unless they are also set to WPA-PSK and are configured

with the correct Passphrase. Similarly, when you use WPA2-PSK, the other devices in the

network will not connect unless they are aslo set to WPA2-PSK and are configured with

the correct Passphrase.

Use the procedures described in the following sections to configure the WNR834B. Store this

information in a safe place.

Configuring WEP Wireless Security

To configure WEP data encryption, follow these steps:

1.

From the main menu of the browser interface, under Setup, click Wireless Settings.

2.

From the Security Options menu, select WEP. The WEP options display.

Note:

If you use a wireless computer to configure WEP settings, you will be disconnected

when you click Apply. You must then either configure your wireless adapter to

match the wireless router WEP settings or access the wireless router from a wired

computer to make any further changes.

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3.

Select the Authentication Type and Encryption strength.

4.

You can manually or automatically program the four data encryption keys. These values must

be identical on all computers and Access Points in your network.

•

Automatic

. In the Passphrase box, enter a word or group of printable characters and click

Generate. The passphrase is case sensitive. For example, NETGEAR is not the same as

nETgear. The four key boxes are automatically populated with key values.

•

Manual

. Enter ten hexadecimal digits (any combination of 0–9, a–f, or A–F). These

entries are not case sensitive. For example, AA is the same as aa.

Select which of the four keys to activate.

Figure 3-4

NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

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Safeguarding Your Network

v1.2, January 2007

See

“Wireless Communications” in Appendix B

for a full explanation of each of these options,

as defined by the IEEE 802.11 wireless communication standard.

5.

Click Apply to save your settings.

Configuring WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK Wireless Security

To configure WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK, follow these steps:

1.

In the Setup section of the main menu, click Wireless Settings

Note:

Not all wireless adapters support WPA. Furthermore, client software is also

required. Windows XP with Service Pack 2 does include WPA support.

Nevertheless, the wireless adapter hardware and driver must also support WPA.

For instructions on configuring wireless computers or PDAs (Personal Digital

Assistants) for WPA-PSK security, consult the documentation for the product you

are using.

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Safeguarding Your Network

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2.

Select one of the WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK options for the Security Type. The third option

(WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WP2-PSK [AES]) is the most flexible, since it allows clients using

either WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK.

3.

In the Passphrase box, enter a word or group of 8-63 printable characters. The passphrase is

case sensitive.

4.

Click Apply to save your settings.

Figure 3-5

NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

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Restricting Wireless Access by MAC Address

By enabling a wireless card access control list, you can restrict access to only trusted computers so

that unknown computers cannot wirelessly connect to the WNR834B.

The Wireless Card Access List displays a list of wireless computers that you will allow to connect

to the router based on their MAC addresses. These wireless computers must also have the correct

SSID and wireless security settings to access the wireless router.

The MAC address is a network device’s unique twelve-character physical address, containing the

hexadecimal characters 0–9 or A–F only, and separated by colons (for example,

00:09:AB:CD:EF:01

). It can usually be found on the bottom of the wireless card or network

interface device. If you do not have access to the physical label, you can display the MAC address

using the network configuration utilities of the computer. In WindowsXP, for example, typing the

ipconfig/all

command in an MSDOS Command Prompt window will display the MAC address as

Physical Address. You may also find the MAC addresses in the router’s Attached Devices menu.

To restrict access based on MAC addresses, follow these steps:

1.

In the Advanced section of the main menu, click Wireless Settings

2.

From the Wireless Settings menu, click Setup Access List to display the Wireless Card Access

List.

Figure 3-6