Authentication Process - Avaya AP-3 User Manual

Popular EAP types are listed in
Table 42: Popular EAP Types
Type
EAP-Message Digest 5 (MD5)
EAP-Transport Layer Security (TLS)
EAP-Tunneled Transport Layer Security
(TTLS)
PEAP - Protected EAP with MS-CHAP
v2
Different servers support different EAP types and each EAP type provides different features.
See the documentation that came with your RADIUS server to determine which EAP types it
supports.
Note:
The AP supports the following EAP types when Authentication Mode is set to
Note:
802.1x, WPA, or 802.11i (WPA2): EAP-TLS, PEAP, and EAP-TTLS. When
Authentication Mode is set to Mixed, the AP supports the following EAP types:
EAP-TLS, PEAP, EAP-TLLS, and EAP-MD5 (MD5 does not support automatic
key distribution; therefore, if you choose this method you need to manually
configure each client with the network's encryption key).

Authentication Process

There are three main components in the authentication process. The standard refers to them
as:
supplicant (client PC)
●
authenticator (Access Point)
●
authentication server (RADIUS server)
●
When Authentication Mode is set to 802.1x, WPA, Mixed mode (802.1x and WEP), or 802.11i,
you need to configure your RADIUS server for authentication purposes.
Prior to successful authentication, an unauthenticated client PC cannot send any data traffic
through the AP device to other systems on the LAN. The AP inhibits all data traffic from a
particular client PC until the client PC is authenticated. Regardless of its authentication status, a
client PC can always exchange 802.1x messages in the clear with the AP (the client begins
encrypting data after it has been authenticated).
Table 42.
Description
Username/Password-based authentication; does
not support automatic key distribution
Certificate-based authentication (a certificate is
required on the server and each client); supports
automatic key distribution
Certificate-based authentication (a certificate is
required on the server; a client's username/
password is tunneled to the server over a secure
connection); supports automatic key distribution
Secure username/password-based authentication;
supports automatic key distribution
Security Configuration
Issue 1 October 2004 149