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Chapter 10: Configuring Security
Security Modes
10.2.2.2 Static WEP
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a data encryption protocol for 802.11 wireless net-
works. All wireless stations and access points on the network are configured with a static
64-bit (40-bit secret key + 24-bit initialization vector (IV)) or 128-bit (104-bit secret key +
24-bit IV) Shared Key for data encryption. You cannot mix 64-bit and 128-bit WEP keys
between the access point and its client stations.
Static WEP is not the most secure mode available, but it offers more protection than setting
security to "None (Plain-text)", as it does prevent an outsider from easily sniffing out unen-
crypted wireless traffic. (For more secure modes, see the sections on "IEEE 802.1x" on
page 108, "WPA Personal" on page 111.), or "WPA Enterprise" on page 113.
WEP encrypts data moving across the wireless network based on a static key. (The encryp-
tion algorithm is a "stream" cipher called RC4.) The access point uses a key to transmit data
to the client stations. Each client station must use that same key to decrypt data it receives
from the access point.
Client stations can use different keys to transmit data to the access point. (Or they can all use
the same key, but this is less secure because it means one station can decrypt the data being
sent by another.) If you selected Static WEP Security Mode, provide the information on the
access point settings, as shown in the following figure and described in Table 10.6 on
page 104.
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