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WPA Key Management – WPA can be configured to work in an enterprise
environment using IEEE 802.1x and a RADIUS server for user authentication. For
smaller networks, WPA can be enabled using a common pre-shared key for client
authentication with the access point.
• WPA authentication over 802.1x: The WPA enterprise mode that uses IEEE
802.1x to authenticate users and to dynamically distribute encryption keys to
clients.
• WPA Pre-shared Key: The WPA mode for small networks that uses a common
password string that is manually distributed. If this mode is selected, be sure to also
specify the key string.
Multicast Cipher Mode – Selects an encryption method for the global key used for
multicast and broadcast traffic, which is supported by all wireless clients.
• WEP: WEP is the first generation security protocol used to encrypt data crossing
the wireless medium using a fairly short key. Communicating devices must use the
same WEP key to encrypt and decrypt radio signals. WEP has many security flaws,
and is not recommended for transmitting highly-sensitive data.
• TKIP: TKIP provides data encryption enhancements including per-packet key
hashing (that is, changing the encryption key on each packet), a message integrity
check, an extended initialization vector with sequencing rules, and a re-keying
mechanism.
• AES: AES has been designated by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology as the successor to the Data Encryption Standard (DES) encryption
algorithm, and will be used by the U.S. government for encrypting all sensitive,
nonclassified information. Because of its strength, and resistance to attack, AES is
also being incorporated as part of the 802.11 standard.
WPA Pre-Shared Key Type – If the WPA pre-shared-key mode is used, all wireless
clients must be configured with the same key to communicate with the access point.
• Hexadecimal: Enter a key as a string of 64 hexadecimal numbers.
• Alphanumeric: Enter a key as an easy-to-remember form of letters and numbers.
The string must be from 8 to 63 characters, which can include spaces.
6
Radio Interface
6-57
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