D-Link DSL-245GE - Wireless Security; What Is WPA

112D-Link DSL-245GE User Manual
Appendix B - Networking Basics
Wireless Security
This section will show you the dierent levels of security you can use to protect your data from intruders. The DSL-245GE oers the
following types of security:
• WPA2/WPA with 802.1x (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) • WPA2-PSK/WPA-PSK (Pre-Shared Key)
• WEP
(Wired Equivalent Privacy)
What is WPA?
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), is a Wi-Fi standard that was designed to improve the security features of WEP (Wired Equivalent
Privacy). WPA has 2 major improvements over WEP:
• Improved data encryption through the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). TKIP scrambles the keys using a hashing
algorithm and by adding an integrity-checking feature, ensures that the keys haven’t been tampered with. WPA2 is based
on 802.11i and uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) instead of TKIP. AES is a stronger and more ecient encryption
than TKIP.
• User authentication, which is generally missing in WEP, through the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). WEP regulates
access to a wireless network based on a computer’s hardware-specic MAC address, which is relatively simple to be snied
out and stolen. EAP is built on a more secure public key encryption system to ensure that only authorized network users can
access the network.
WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK uses a passphrase or key to authenticate your wireless connection. The key is an alpha-numeric password
between 8 and 63 characters long. This key must be the exact same key entered on your wireless router or access point.
The WPA2/WPA with 802.1x option features WPA2/WPA used in coordination with a RADIUS server for user authentication in an
organization or enterprise environment. The exchange of authentication information between wireless clients and a RADIUS
server employs Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP).