Cisco Aironet CB21AG Installation And Configuration Manual page 80

Setting Advanced Parameters
Table 5-3
Parameter
802.11 Authentication Mode
Cisco Aironet 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN Client Adapters (CB21AG and PI21AG) Installation and Configuration Guide
5-12
Profile Management Advanced Parameters (continued)
Description
Specifies how your client adapter attempts to authenticate to an access
point. Open and shared authentication do not rely on a RADIUS server
on your network.
Options: Auto, Open, or Shared
Default: Open
802.11 Authentication Mode
Auto
Open
Shared
Note Cisco recommends that Auto and Shared not be used because
they present a security risk.
Your client adapter's 802.11 authentication mode setting must
Note
match that of the access points with which it is to communicate,
or be set to auto. Otherwise, your client adapter may not be able
to authenticate to them.
Note If this profile is configured for use in an ad hoc network or is
not configured to use static WEP, this parameter is unavailable,
and Open authentication is used.
Chapter 5 Configuring the Client Adapter
Description
Causes the client adapter to attempt to
authenticate using shared authentication.
If it fails, the client adapter then attempts
to authenticate using open authentication.
Enables your client adapter, regardless of
its WEP settings, to authenticate and
attempt to communicate with an access
point. However, communication can occur
only if the adapter's WEP key matches that
of the access point.
Enables your client adapter to authenticate
and communicate only with access points
that have the same WEP key.
During shared key authentication, the
access point sends an unencrypted
challenge packet to the client adapter,
which encrypts the packet and sends it
back to the access point. The access point
attempts to decrypt the encrypted packet
and sends an authentication response
packet indicating the success or failure of
the decryption back to the client adapter. If
the packet is successfully encrypted/
decrypted, the user is considered to be
authenticated.
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