71D-Link DIR-628 User Manual
Section 4 - Security
Wireless Security
This section will show you the different levels of security you can use to protect your data from intruders. The 
DIR-655 offers the following types of security:
• WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2)     • WPA2-PSK (Pre-Shared Key)
• WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)      • WPA-PSK (Pre-Shared Key)
What is WPA?
WPA, or Wi-Fi Protected Access, is a Wi-Fi standard that was designed to improve the security features of WEP (Wired 
Equivalent Privacy). 
The 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.
• 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-specific  MAC 
address, which is relatively simple to be sniffed 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. The password can include symbols (!?*&_) and spaces. This key must 
be the exact same key entered on your wireless router or access point.
WPA/WPA2 incorporates user authentication through the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). EAP is built on a 
more secure public key encryption system to ensure that only authorized network users can access the network.