ZyXEL Communications SBG3300 series User Manual page 32

characteristics, and of preventing access to that port in case of the failure of
authentication process.
The IEEE 802.1x authentication is a client-server architecture delivered with the
EAPOL (Extensible Authentication Protocol over LAN). The authentication server
authenticates each client connected to an Access Point (for Wireless LAN) or switch
port (for Ethernet) before accessing any services offered by the Wireless AP. The
802.1x contains three major components:
1. Authenticator:
The device (i.e. Wireless AP) that facilitates the authentication for supplicant
(Wireless client) attached to the Wireless network. Authenticator controls the
physical access to the network based on the authentication status of the client. The
authenticator acts as an intermediary (proxy) between the client and the
authentication server (i.e. RADIUS server), requesting the identity information from
the client, verifying that information with the authentication server and relaying a
response to the client.