Eap Authentication Overview; Wpa With Radius Application Example; Figure 34 Eap Authentication - ZyXEL Communications ZyXEL Prestige P-330W User Manual

ZyXEL P-330W User's Guide
In order to ensure network security, the access point and the RADIUS server use a shared
secret key, which is a password, they both know. The key is not sent over the network. In
addition to the shared key, password information exchanged is also encrypted to protect the
wired network from unauthorized access.

5.7.7.5 EAP Authentication Overview

EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) is an authentication protocol that runs on top of the
IEEE802.1x transport mechanism in order to support multiple types of user authentication. By
using EAP to interact with an EAP-compatible RADIUS server, the access point helps a
wireless station and a RADIUS server perform authentication.
The type of authentication you use depends on the RADIUS server or the AP. The P-330W
supports EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS and PEAP with RADIUS. Refer to the Types of EAP
Authentication appendix for descriptions on the four common types.
Your P-330W supports EAP-MD5 (Message-Digest Algorithm 5) with RADIUS.
The following figure shows an overview of authentication when you specify a RADIUS server
on your access point.

Figure 34 EAP Authentication

The details below provide a general description of how IEEE 802.1x EAP authentication
works. For an example list of EAP-MD5 authentication steps, see the IEEE 802.1x appendix.
1 The wireless station sends a "start" message to the P-330W.
2 The P-330W sends a "request identity" message to the wireless station for identity
information.
3 The wireless station replies with identity information, including username and password.
4 The RADIUS server checks the user information against its user profile database and
determines whether or not to authenticate the wireless station.

5.7.7.6 WPA with RADIUS Application Example

You need the IP address of the RADIUS server, its port number (default is 1812), and the
RADIUS shared secret. A WPA application example with an external RADIUS server looks
as follows. "A" is the RADIUS server. "DS" is the distribution system.
1 The AP passes the wireless client's authentication request to the RADIUS server.
63 Chapter 5 Wireless