ZyXEL Communications NWA3560-N User Manual page 297

WPA(2) with RADIUS Application Example
To set up WPA( 2) , you need t he I P address of t he RADI US server, it s port num ber ( default is 1812) ,
and t he RADI US shared secret . A WPA( 2) applicat ion exam ple wit h an ext ernal RADI US server
looks as follows. " A" is t he RADI US server. " DS" is t he dist ribut ion syst em .
1 The AP passes t he wireless client 's aut hent icat ion request t o t he RADI US server.
2 The RADI US server t hen checks t he user's ident ificat ion against it s dat abase and grant s or denies
net work access accordingly.
3 A 256- bit Pairwise Mast er Key ( PMK) is derived from t he aut hent icat ion process by t he RADI US
server and t he client .
4 The RADI US server dist ribut es t he PMK t o t he AP . The AP t hen set s up a key hierarchy and
m anagem ent syst em , using t he PMK t o dynam ically generat e unique dat a encrypt ion keys. The
keys are used t o encrypt every dat a packet t hat is wirelessly com m unicat ed bet ween t he AP and
t he wireless client s.
Figure 126 WPA( 2) wit h RADI US Applicat ion Exam ple
WPA(2)-PSK Application Example
A WPA( 2) - PSK applicat ion looks as follows.
1 First ent er ident ical passwords int o t he AP and all wireless client s. The Pre- Shared Key ( PSK) m ust
consist of bet ween 8 and 63 ASCI I charact ers or 64 hexadecim al charact ers ( including spaces and
sym bols) .
2 The AP checks each wireless client 's password and allows it t o j oin t he net work only if t he password
m at ches.
3 The AP and wireless client s generat e a com m on PMK ( Pairwise Mast er Key) . The key it self is not
sent over t he net work, but is derived from t he PSK and t he SSI D.
NWA3000-N Series User's Guide
Appendix C Wireless LANs
297