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WEP
A method of encrypting data for wireless communication intended to provide the same level of
privacy as a wired network. WEP is not as secure as WPA encryption. To gain access to a
WEP network, you must know the key. The key is a string of characters that you create. When
using WEP, you must determine the level of encryption. The type of encryption determines the
key length. 128-bit encryption requires a longer key than 64-bit encryption. Keys are defined by
entering in a string in HEX (hexadecimal - using characters 0-9, A-F) or ASCII (American
Standard Code for Information Interchange - alphanumeric characters) format. ASCII format is
provided so you can enter a string that is easier to remember. The ASCII string is converted to
HEX for use over the network. Four keys can be defined so that you can change keys easily. A
default key is selected for use on the network.
Example:
64-bit hexadecimal keys are exactly 10 characters in length. (12345678FA is a valid string
of 10 characters for 64-bit encryption.)
128-bit hexadecimal keys are exactly 26 characters in length.
(456FBCDF123400122225271730 is a valid string of 26 characters for 128-bit
encryption.)
64-bit ASCII keys are up to 5 characters in length (DMODE is a valid string of 5
characters for 64-bit encryption.)
128-bit ASCII keys are up to 13 characters in length (2002HALOSWIN1 is a valid string of
13 characters for 128-bit encryption.)
Note that, if you enter fewer characters in the WEP key than required, the remainder of the key
is automatically padded with zeros.
WPA-Personal and WPA-Enterprise
Both of these options select some variant of Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) -- security
standards published by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The
WPA Mode
further refines the variant that the
router should employ.
WPA Mode:
WPA is the older standard; select this option if the clients that will be used with
the router only support the older standard. WPA2 is the newer implementation of the stronger
IEEE 802.11i security standard. With the "WPA or WPA2" option, the router tries WPA2 first,
but falls back to WPA if the client only supports WPA. The strongest cipher that the client
supports will be used. With the "WPA2 Only" option, the router associates only with clients that
also support WPA2 security. If the clients support the AES cipher, it will be used across the
wireless network to ensure best security.
Group Key Update Interval:
The amount of time before the group key used for broadcast and
multicast data is changed.
WPA-Personal
This option uses Wi-Fi Protected Access with a Pre-Shared Key (PSK).
Pre-Shared Key:
The key is entered as a pass-phrase of up to 63 alphanumeric characters in
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) format at both ends of the
wireless connection. It cannot be shorter than eight characters, although for proper security it
needs to be of ample length and should not be a commonly known phrase. This phrase is used
to generate session keys that are unique for each wireless client.
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