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Max. Number of Clients
This parameter specifies the maximum number of clients that can connect to the wireless network
corresponding to an SSID. If the number is reached, the wireless network rejects new connection requests
from clients. This limit helps balance load among APs.
Security Mode
A wireless network uses radio, which is open to the public, as its data transmission medium. If the wireless
network is not protected by necessary measures, any client can connect to the network to use the resources of
the network or access unprotected data over the network. To ensure communication security, transmission
links of wireless networks must be encrypted for protection.
The AP supports various security modes for network encryption, including None, WEP, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK,
Mixed WPA/WPA2-PSK, WPA, and WPA2.
None
It indicates that any wireless client can connect to the wireless network. This option is not recommended
because it affects network security.
WEP
It uses a static key to encrypt all exchanged data, and ensures that a wireless LAN has the same level of
security as a wired LAN. Data encrypted based on WEP can be easily cracked. In addition, WEP supports a
maximum wireless network throughput of only 54 Mbps. Therefore, this security mode is not recommended.
WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and Mixed WPA/WPA2-PSK
They belong to pre-shared key or personal key modes, where Mixed WPA/WPA2-PSK supports both WPA-PSK
and WPA2-PSK.
WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and Mixed WPA/WPA2-PSK adopt a pre-shared key for authentication, while the AP
generates another key for data encryption. This prevents the vulnerability caused by static WEP keys, and
makes the three security modes suitable for ensuring security of home wireless networks. Nevertheless,
because the initial pre-shared key for authentication is manually set and all clients use the same key to connect
to the same AP, the key may be disclosed unexpectedly. This makes the security modes not suitable for
scenarios where high security is required.
WPA and WPA2
To address the key management weakness of WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK, the WiFi Alliance puts forward WPA
and WPA2, which use 802.1x to authenticate clients and generate data encryption–oriented root keys. WPA
and WPA2 use the root keys to replace the pre-shared keys that set manually, but adopt the same encryption
process as WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK.
WPA and WPA2 uses 802.1x to authenticate clients and the login information of a client is managed by the
client. This effectively reduces the probability of information leakage. In addition, each time a client connects
to an AP that adopts the WPA or WPA2 security mode, the RADIUS server generates a data encryption key and
assigns it to the client. This makes it difficult for attackers to obtain the key. These features of WPA and WPA2
help significantly increase network security, making WPA and WPA2 the preferred security modes of wireless
networks that require high security.
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