ZyXEL Communications ZyXEL ZyWALL 35 - Manual (Page 136)

ZyWALL 35 User’s Guide
134 Chapter 6 Wireless LAN and Authentication Server
6.15.2 EAP Authentication Overview
EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) is an authentication protocol that runs on top of the
IEEE802.1x transport mechanism in order to support multiple types of user authentication. By
using EAP to interact with an EAP-compatible RADIUS server, the access point helps a
wireless station and a RADIUS server perform authentication.
The type of authentication you use depends on the RADIUS server or the AP.
Your ZyWALL supports EAP-MD5 (Message-Digest Algorithm 5) with the local user
database.
The following figure shows an overview of authentication when you specify a RADIUS server
on your access point.
Figure 45 EAP Authentication
The details below provide a general description of how IEEE 802.1x EAP authentication
works. For an example list of EAP-MD5 authentication steps, see
Appendix G Wireless LAN
With IEEE 802.1x on the IEEE 802.1x.
• The wireless station sends a start message to the ZyWALL.
• The ZyWALL sends a request identity message to the wireless station for identity
information.
• The wireless station replies with identity information, including username and password.
• The RADIUS server checks the user information against its user profile database and
determines whether or not to authenticate the wireless station.
6.16 Introduction to Local User Database
By storing user profiles locally on the ZyWALL, your ZyWALL is able to authenticate
wireless users without interacting with a network RADIUS server. However, there is a limit on
the number of users you may authenticate in this way.