LevelOne WAB-1000 - Manual (Page 11)

6
SSID
The Service Set ID (SSID) is a string used to define a common roaming domain among
multiple wireless access points. Different SSIDs on access points can enable overlapping
wireless networks. The SSID can act as a basic password without which the client cannot
connect to the network. However, this is easily overridden by allowing the wireless AP to
broadcast the SSID, which means any client can associate with the AP. SSID broadcasting can
be disabled in the WAB-1000 setup menus if you are configuring to use WEP encryption.
WEP
WEP is an older encryption standard but is preferable to no encryption. The WAB-1000 is
capable of configuring for WEP 64-bit encryption, 128-bit encryption, or 152-bit encryption.
Authentication type can be set for Open System, Shared Key, or a combination Open/Shared. If
the WAB-1000 is configured with WEP encryption, it is compatible with any 802.11b/g PC card
configured for WEP.
WPA with TKIP/ AES-CCMP
WPA, an interim standard developed by the WiFi Alliance, combines several technologies
that address known 802.11x security vulnerabilities. It provides an affordable, scalable solution
for protecting existing corporate WLANs without the additional expense of VPN/firewall
technology. It includes the use of the 802.1x standard and the Extensible Authentication Protocol
(EAP). In addition, it uses, for encryption, the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) and WEP
128-bit encryption keys. Finally, a message integrity check (MIC) is used to prevent an attacker
from capturing and altering or forging data packets. In addition, it can employ a form of AES
called AES-CCMP. The WAB-1000 allows the user to configure encryption type to allow either
TKIP clients, AES-CCMP clients, or a mix of both.
WPA is a subset of the draft 802.11i standard and is expected to maintain forward
compatibility.
AES-ECB and 3DES for Bridging
The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) was selected by NIST in October 2000 as an
upgrade from the previous DES standard. The subset that has currently been approved is AES-
ECB. The WAB-1000 uses AES-ECB (or 3DES) over the Bridging channel. AES uses a 128-bit
block cipher algorithm and encryption technique for protecting computerized information. It has
the ability to use even larger 192-bit and 256-bit keys, if desired.