Radio interface 5-57 – SMC Networks SMC2555W-AG User Manual

Page 113

Advertising
background image

Radio Interface

5-57

multicast and broadcast traffic must be the same for all clients,
therefore it restricts encryption to a WEP key.

When access is opened to both WPA and WEP clients, no
authentication is provided for the WEP clients through shared
keys. To support authentication for WEP clients in this mixed
mode configuration, you can use either MAC authentication or
802.1x authentication.

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Support: WPA specifies
AES encryption as an optional alternative to TKIP and WEP. AES
provides very strong encryption using a completely different
ciphering algorithm to TKIP and WEP. The developing IEEE
802.11i wireless security standard has specified AES as an
eventual replacement for TKIP and WEP. However, because of
the difference in ciphering algorithms, AES requires new
hardware support in client network cards that is currently not
widely available. The access point includes AES support as a
future security enhancement.

The WPA configuration parameters are described below:

Authentication Type Setup – When using WPA, set the access
point to communicate as an open system to disable WEP keys.

Note: Although WEP keys are not needed for WPA, you must enable

WEP encryption through the web or CLI in order to enable all
types of encryption in the access point. For example, set Wired
Equivalent Privacy (WEP) Setup to “Enable” on the Security page.

WPA Configuration Mode – The access point can be configured
to allow only WPA-enabled clients to access the network, or also
allow clients only capable of supporting WEP.

Advertising