What Is 802.1X; What Is The Difference Between Force-Authorized, Force-Unauthorized And Auto; What Is Aaa; What Is Radius - ZyXEL Communications Prestige 320W Support Notes

802.11g wireless firewall router

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P320W Support Notes

What is 802.1x?

IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Network Access Control is an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers) standard, which specifies a standard mechanism for authenticating, at the link layer (Layer 2),

users' access to IEEE 802 networks such as Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) and Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11). For

IEEE 802.11 WLAN, IEEE 802.1x authentication can be based on username/password or digital

certificate.

force-authorized—disables 802.1X and causes the port to transition to the authorized state without any

authentication exchange required. The port transmits and receives normal traffic without 802.1X-based

authentication of the client.

force-unauthorized—causes the port to remain in the unauthorized state, ignoring all attempts by the

client to authenticate. The switch cannot provide authentication services to the client through the interface.

auto—enables 802.1X and causes the port to begin in the unauthorized state, allowing only EAPOL

frames to be sent and received through the port. The authentication process begins when the link state of

the port transitions from down to up, or when an EAPOL-start frame is received. The switch requests the

identity of the client and begins relaying authentication messages between the client and the

authentication server. Each client attempting to access the network is uniquely identified by the switch by

using the client's MAC address.

AAA is the acronym for Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting and refers to the idea of

managing subscribers by controlling their access to the network, verifying that they are who they say they

are (via login name and password or MAC address) and accounting for their network usage.

RADIUS stands for Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service. RADIUS is a standard that has been

implemented into several software packages and networking devices. It allows user information to be sent

to a central database running on a RADIUS Server, where it is verified. RADIUS also provides a

mechanism for accounting.

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