Wireless Security Options - NETGEAR WGT624 v4 User Manual

There are several ways you can enhance the security of you wireless network.
• Restrict access based on MAC (Media Access Control) address. You can restrict access to
only trusted computers so that unknown computers cannot wirelessly connect to the
WGT624 v4. MAC address filtering adds an obstacle against unwanted access to your
network, but the data broadcast over the wireless link is fully exposed.
• Turn off the broadcast of the wireless network name (SSID). If you disable broadcast of the
SSID, only devices that have the correct SSID can connect. This nullifies the wireless network
"discovery" feature of some products such as Windows XP, but the data is still fully exposed
to a determined snoop using specialized test equipment like wireless sniffers.
• Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption. Provides data security. WEP Shared
Key authentication and WEP data encryption will block all but the most determined
eavesdropper.
• Wi-Fi Protected Access—Pre-Shared Key (WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK). Provide strong
data security. WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK will block eavesdropping. Because these are new
standards, wireless device driver and software availability might be limited.
• Turn off the wireless LAN. If you disable the wireless LAN, wireless devices cannot
communicate with the router at all. You might choose to turn off the wireless the LAN when
you are away and the others in the household all use wired connections.

Wireless Security Options

The following table identifies the basic wireless security options on the Wireless Settings screen.
For a link to a full explanation of these standards, see
Wireless Security
Option Field
None
WEP
WPA-PSK WPA2-PSK
Wireless Security
Super G Wireless Router WGT624 v4 User Manual
Description
No wireless security.
WEP offers the following options:
• Open System. With Open Network Authentication and 64- or 128-bit WEP
Data Encryption, the WGT624 v4 does perform 64- or 128-bit data encryption
but does not perform authentication.
• Shared Key. Shared Key authentication encrypts the SSID and data. Not all
wireless adapter configuration utilities support passphrase key generation.
• Auto. The wireless router automatically detects whether Open System or
Shared Key is used.
• WPA-Pre-shared Key does perform authentication.
• WPA-PSK uses TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) data encryption and
WPA2-PSK uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) data encryption. Both
dynamically change the encryption keys, making them nearly impossible to
circumvent.
v1.0, July 2008
"Wireless Communications" in Appendix B.
2-3