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SMCD3GN2 Wireless Cable Modem User Manual

Wireless Encryption Settings Menu

Using the Wireless Encryption Settings menu, you can protect the data transmitted across

your wireless network. The same encryption keys you specify here must also be configured

on your other wireless client devices on your wireless network.

To access the Wireless Encryption Settings menu, click

Wireless

in the menu bar and then

click the

Encryption

submenu. Figure 31 shows an example of the menu and Table 10

describes the settings you can select.

Note:

The

Encryption

submenu is not available in the menu bar if wireless operation is

disabled in the Wireless Basic Settings menu (see page 54).

Figure 31. Wireless Encryption Settings Menu

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SMCD3GN2 Wireless Cable Modem User Manual

Table 10. Wireless Encryption Settings Menu Options

Option

Description

SSID

Network name of the of the primary wireless carrier. This field can be changed by administrators, but

not by users.

Security Mode

Selects the security mode used to protect transmissions across the wireless network.

•

None = no security is used over the wireless network.

•

WEP = Wired Equivalency Privacy encryption is used over the wireless network. Select this option

if your wireless adapters support WEP but not WPA-Personal. WEP provides basic security, but is

not as secure as WPA-Personal. If you select WEP, select the options in Figure 32 and Table 11.

•

WPA-Personal = select this option if your wireless adapters support WPA-Personal. This

encryption method is superior to WEP and offers two cipher types, TKIP and AES, with dynamic

encryption keys. If you select WPA-Personal, select the options in Figure 33 and Table 12.

(

default

)

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SMCD3GN2 Wireless Cable Modem User Manual

Figure 32. WEP Options

Table 11. WEP Options

Option

Description

WEP Key Length

Level of WEP encryption applied to all WEP keys. Choices are 64-bit (10 hex digits) and 128-bit (26

hex digits).

WEP Key 1 – WEP Key 4

Fields for entering up to four WEP keys manually. Alternatively, you can click the Generate Keys

button to generate these keys automatically.

Default WEP Key

Specifies which of the four WEP keys the Gateway is to use as its default.

Authentication

Authentication used. Choices are:

•

Open System = clients can only associate to the wireless access point using Open Option.

(

default

)

•

Shared Key = all wireless stations share the same secret key.

•

Automatic = clients can associate to the wireless access point using Open System or Shared Key.

Passphrase

A sequence of words or text that can be used to automatically generate WEP keys. A passphrase

can consist of from 8 to 63 ASCII characters. You can use upper-case, lower-case, and numeric

characters to from your passphrase. A Generate Keys button next to this field lets the Gateway

generate a passphrase based on the characters typed in this field.

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SMCD3GN2 Wireless Cable Modem User Manual

Figure 33. WPA_Personal Options

Table 12. WPA_Personal Options

Option

Description

WPA Mode

Lets you select the WPA mode they want to use. Choices are:

•

WPA-PSK = select this setting if your access points and wireless clients support WPA-Pre-Shared

Key (PSK) Authentication.

•

WPA2-PSK = select this setting if your access points and wireless clients support WPA2-PSK

Authentication.

•

Auto (WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK) = select this setting if your access points and wireless clients

support either WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK. (

default

)

Cipher type

Algorithm encryption to be used. Choices are:

•

TKIP = automatic encryption with WPA-PSK; requires pre-shared key.

•

AES = automatic encryption with WPA2-PSK; requires pre-shared key.

•

TKIP and AES = uses both TKIP and AES cipher types; requires pre-shared key. (

default

)

Group Key Update Interval

Number of seconds that instructs the Gateway how often it should change the encryption keys.

Usually the security level is higher if you set the period shorter to change encryption keys more often.

Default value is 3600 seconds (6 minutes). Type 0 to disable group key update interval.

Pre-shared Key

Shared secret between the Gateway and access points and wireless clients. Please check whether a

default pre-shared key is required.

Pre-Authentication

Enables secure fast roaming, without noticeable signal latency. By default, this option is disabled.

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SMCD3GN2 Wireless Cable Modem User Manual

WPS Setup

Using the WPS Setup menu, you can enable or disable WPS. WPS is a standard for easy

and secure wireless network set up and connections.

The advantages of WPS are:

y

WPS automatically configures the network name (SSID) and WPA security key for the

Gateway and for the access point and wireless devices that join the network.

y

You do not need to know the network name and security keys or passphrases to use

WPS to join a wireless network.

y

No one can guess your security keys or passphrase because they are generated

randomly.

y

WPS uses the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), which is a strong authentication

protocol used in WPA2.

The disadvantages of WPS are:

y

Unless all the Wi-Fi devices on the network are WPS-compatible, you cannot take

advantage of the ease of securing the network.

y

Not all wireless equipment supports WPS.

y

If your wireless devices do not support WPS, it can be hard to join a network that was

set up with WPS because the wireless network name and security key are random

sequences of letters and numbers.

To access the WPS Setup menu, click

Wireless

in the menu bar and then click the

WPS

submenu. Figure 34 shows an example of the menu. Using the

WPS Config

drop-down list,

select the appropriate option to enable or disable WPS setup.