Hide Identity; Wep Encryption; Overview; Eap Authentication Overview - ZyXEL Communications G-3000 User Manual

Chapter 7 Wireless Security Configuration

7.1.4 Hide Identity

If you hide the SSID, then the ZyXEL Device cannot be seen when a wireless client scans for
local APs. The trade-off for the extra security of "hiding" the ZyXEL Device may be
inconvenience for some valid WLAN clients.

7.1.5 WEP Encryption

WEP encryption scrambles the data transmitted between the wireless stations and the access
points to keep network communications private. It encrypts unicast and multicast
communications in a network. Both the wireless stations and the access points must use the
same WEP key.
Your ZyXEL Device allows you to configure up to four WEP keys but only one key can be
enabled at any one time.
7.2 802.1x Overview
The IEEE 802.1x standard outlines enhanced security methods for both the authentication of
wireless stations and encryption key management. Authentication can be done using an
external RADIUS server.

7.3 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 ZyXEL
Device supports EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS, EAP-MD5 and PEAP with RADIUS. Refer to the
Types of EAP Authentication appendix for descriptions on the common types.
The following figure shows an overview of authentication when you specify a RADIUS server
on your access point.

Figure 39 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 ZyXEL Device.
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G-3000 Series User's Guide