Mac Address Authentication To The Network - Cisco ISR Configuration Manual

Chapter 6 Configuring Authentication Types
There is more than one type of EAP authentication, but the access point behaves the same way for each
type: it relays authentication messages from the wireless client device to the RADIUS server and from
the RADIUS server to the wireless client device. See the
section on page 6-9
If you use EAP authentication, you can select open or shared key authentication, but you don't have to.
Note
EAP authentication controls authentication both to your access point and to your network.

MAC Address Authentication to the Network

The access point relays the MAC address of the wireless client device to a RADIUS server on your
network, and the server checks the address against a list of allowed MAC addresses. Intruders can create
counterfeit MAC addresses, so MAC-based authentication is less secure than EAP authentication.
However, MAC-based authentication provides an alternate authentication method for client devices that
do not have EAP capability. See the
for instructions on enabling MAC-based authentication.
If you don't have a RADIUS server on your network, you can create a list of allowed MAC addresses on
Tip
the access point's Advanced Security: MAC Address Authentication page. Devices with MAC addresses
not on the list are not allowed to authenticate.
If MAC-authenticated clients on your wireless LAN roam frequently, you can enable a MAC
Tip
authentication cache on your access points. MAC authentication caching reduces overhead because the
access point authenticates devices in its MAC-address cache without sending the request to your
authentication server. See the
instructions on enabling this feature.
Figure 6-4
OL-6415-04
for instructions on setting up EAP on the access point.
"Assigning Authentication Types to an SSID" section on page 6-9
"Configuring MAC Authentication Caching" section on page 6-14
shows the authentication sequence for MAC-based authentication.
"Assigning Authentication Types to an SSID"
Cisco Wireless ISR and HWIC Access Point Configuration Guide
Understand Authentication Types
for
6-5