Belkin F5D9000 User Manual page 39

F5D9000 revised manual
Page 39 of 62
128-Bit Encryption
As a result of 64-bit WEP's potential security weaknesses, a more secure
method of 128-bit encryption was developed. 128-bit encryption includes a key
length of 104 bits plus 24 additional bits of system-generated data (128 bits total).
Some hardware manufacturers refer to 128-bit as 104-bit encryption.
Most of the new wireless equipment in the market today supports both 64-bit and
128-bit WEP encryption, but you might have older equipment that only supports
64-bit WEP. All Belkin wireless products will support both 64-bit and 128-bit WEP.
Encryption Keys
After selecting either the 64-bit or 128-bit WEP encryption mode, it is critical that
you generate an encryption key. If the encryption key is not consistent throughout
the entire wireless network, your wireless networking devices will be unable to
communicate with one another.
You can enter your key by typing in the hex key manually, or you can type a
passphrase into the "Passphrase" field and click "Generate" to create a key. A
hex (hexadecimal) key is a combination of numbers and letters from A–F and 0–
9. For 64-bit WEP, you need to enter 10 hex keys. For 128-bit WEP, you need to
enter 26 hex keys.
For instance:
AF 0F 4B C3 D4 = 64-bit WEP key
C3 03 0F AF 0F 4B B2 C3 D4 4B C3 D4 E7 = 128-bit WEP key
The WEP passphrase is NOT the same as a WEP key. Your Card uses this
passphrase to generate your WEP keys, but different hardware manufacturers
might have different methods on generating the keys. If you have multiple
vendors' equipment in your network, the easiest thing to do is to use the hex
WEP key from your wireless router (or
access point) and enter it manually into the hex WEP key table in your Card's
configuration screen.
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) is a new Wi-Fi standard that improves upon the
security features of WEP. To use WPA security, the drivers and software of your
wireless equipment must be upgraded to support it. These updates will be found
on your wireless vendor's website. There are three types of WPA security: WPA-
PSK (no server), WPA (with radius server), and WPA2