Airlink RT211W - Manual (Page 25)

4. Web Configuration
19
Authentication Mode: Select Open System or Shared Key or
Shared Key only.
Authentication is a process in which the AP validates if wireless
clients are qualified to access the AP’s service. This happens prior
to any wireless client can associate to an AP. The IEEE 802.11
defines two types of algorithms in authentication: the “Open
System” and “Shared Key”.
•
Open System: The authentication is done through a
pseudo process, accepting all kinds of requests, mainly
used in cases where connectivity is more important than
security.
•
Shared Key: Utilizes WEP capability to further verify if a
wireless client is authorized to share this AP’s resource. If
the client has the wrong key or no key, it will fail
authentication and will not be allowed to associate with
the AP.
If you select Open System or Shared Key, wireless stations with or
without correct WEP keys can be authenticated by the AP.
Yet if Shared Key only is selected, you must enable WEP function and
define your WEP keys. The keys are used both to authenticate wireless
clients and encrypt outgoing data.
WEP Keys: Enter one to four WEP keys in either ASCII or
Hexadecimal format. You can use 64 bits or 128 bits as the
encryption algorithm. The higher the bit number, the greater the
complexity and the security of the encryption.
Note that when using Hexadecimal format, only digits 0-9 and
letters A-F, a-f are allowed. Valid key length for each encryption
type is as below:
HEX Format ASCII Format
64 Bit 10 hexadecimal digits 5 ASCII characters
128 Bit 26 hexadecimal digits 13 ASCII characters