THOMSON Speedtouch 580 Setup And User Manual page 20

2 SpeedTouch™ Local Networking Setup
Level 2
Wireless client
requirements
18
This level uses Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) to provide state of the art security. This
also means that only recent wireless clients will have implemented WPA, and that older
wireless clients (without WPA) will not interoperate with the SpeedTouch™580 at this
security level.
The WPA standard specifies two modes of operation:
•
WPA Personal also know as WPA-PSK (Pre-Shared Key), for residential use.
•
WPA Enterprise for business use. In this mode, authentication is done by a dedi-
cated authentication server, which is normally not available for residential use.
Therefore, the SpeedTouch™580 does not feature WPA Enterprise.
WPA Personal features 3 basic improvements over WEP (security level 1).
Mutual authentication of access point and client via a 4-way handshake. In this
1
handshake, both client and access point check whether they share the same Pre-
Shared Key (without sending the PSK "in the clear").
Stronger encryption, using the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). In stead of
2
using a fixed WEP key, TKIP uses in pairs temporary session keys which are
derived from the PSK during the 4-way handshake.
Message Integrity Check (MIC), a strong mathematical function in which the recip-
3
ient and transmitter each compute and compare the MIC. Non-matching MICs
reveal that a third party has been tampering the data to try and hack the system.
Only wireless client adapters compliant to IEEE802.11g and/or IEEE802.11b, will be able
to communicate with the SpeedTouch™ and other members of the SpeedTouch™
(W)LAN environment. However, be aware that only IEEE802.11g compliant wireless
clients are able to gain full profit of the 54 Mbps (Max) bandwidth delivered by the
SpeedTouch™580.
It is highly recommended that wireless client adapters are Wi-Fi™ certified to ensure
smooth interoperability with the SpeedTouch™580's WLAN.
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