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TRENDnetUser’sGuide
TEW‐825DAP
9
WirelessNetworkingandSecurity
Howtochoosethetypeofsecurityforyourwirelessnetwork
Settingupwirelesssecurityisveryimportant.Leavingyourwirelessnetworkopenand
unsecurecouldexposeyourentirenetworkandpersonalfilestooutsiders.TRENDnet
recommendsreadingthroughthisentiresectionandsettingupwirelesssecurityonyour
newaccesspoint.
Thereareafewdifferentwirelesssecuritytypessupportedinwirelessnetworkingeach
havingitsowncharacteristicswhichmaybemoresuitableforyourwirelessnetwork
takingintoconsiderationcompatibility,performance,aswellasthesecuritystrength
alongwithusingolderwirelessnetworkinghardware(alsocalledlegacyhardware).
Itisstronglyrecommendedtoenablewirelesssecuritytopreventunwantedusersfrom
accessingyournetworkandnetworkresources(personaldocuments,media,etc.).
Ingeneral,itisrecommendedthatyouchoosethesecuritytypewiththehighest
strengthandperformancesupportedbythewirelesscomputersanddevicesinyour
network.Pleasereviewthesecuritytypestodeterminewhichoneyoushouldusefor
yournetwork.
WirelessEncryptionTypes
WEP:Legacyencryptionmethodsupportedbyolder802.11b/ghardware.Thisis
theoldestandleastsecuretypeofwirelessencryption.Itisgenerallynot
recommendedtousethisencryptionstandard,howeverifyouhaveold802.11bor
802.11gwirelessadaptersorcomputerswitholdembeddedwirelesscards(wireless
clients),youmayhavetosetyourroutertoWEPtoallowtheoldadaptersto
connecttotherouter.
Note:Thisencryptionstandardwilllimitconnectionspeedsto54Mbps.
WPA:ThisencryptionissignificantlymorerobustthantheWEPtechnology.Much
oftheolder802.11ghardwarewasbeenupgraded(withfirmware/driverupgrades)
tosupportthisencryptionstandard.Totalwirelessspeedsunderthisencryption
typehoweverarelimitedto54Mbps.
WPA‐Auto:Thissettingprovidestherouterwiththeabilitytodetectwireless
devicesusingeitherWPAorWPA2encryption.Yourwirelessnetworkwill
automaticallychangetheencryptionsettingbasedonthefirstwirelessdevice
connected.Forexample,ifthefirstwirelessclientthatconnectstoyourwireless
networkusesWPAencryptionyourwirelessnetworkwilluseWPAencryption.Only
whenallwirelessclientsdisconnecttothenetworkandawirelessclientwithWPA2
encryptionconnectsyourwirelessnetworkwillthenchangetoWPA2encryption.
Note:WPA2encryptionsupports802.11nspeedsandWPAencryptionwilllimit
yourconnectionspeedsto54Mbps
WPA2:Thisisthemostsecurewirelessencryptionavailabletoday,similartoWPA
encryptionbutmorerobust.Thisencryptionstandardalsosupportsthehighest
connectionspeeds.TRENDnetrecommendssettingyourroutertothisencryption
standard.Ifyoufindthatoneofyourwirelessnetworkdevicesdoesnotsupport
WPA2encryption,thensetyourroutertoeitherWPAorWPA‐Autoencryption.
Note:Checkthespecificationsofyourwirelessnetworkadaptersandwireless
appliancestoverifythehighestlevelofencryptionsupported.Belowisbrief
comparisonchartofthewirelesssecuritytypesandtherecommended
configurationdependingonwhichtypeyouchooseforyourwirelessnetwork.
SecurityStandard WEP WPA WPA2
Compatible
Wireless
Standards
IEEE802.11a/b/g
(802.11ndevices
willoperateat
802.11gtoconnect
usingthisstandard)
IEEE802.11a/b/g
(802.11ndevices
willoperateat
802.11gtoconnect
usingthis
standard) IEEE802.11a/b/g/n
Highest
Performance
UnderThis
Setting Upto54Mbps Upto54Mbps
Upto450Mbps(11n)
andupto1.3Gbps
(11ac)*
Encryption
Strength Low Medium High
Additional
Options
OpenSystemor
SharedKey,
HEXorASCII,
Differentkeysizes
TKIPorAES,
PresharedKeyor
RADIUS
TKIPorAES,
PresharedKeyor
RADIUS
Recommended
Configuration
OpenSystemASCII
13characters
TKIP
PresharedKey
8‐63characters
AES
PresharedKey
8‐63characters
*Dependentonthemaximum802.11n/acdataratesupportedbythedevice(150Mbps,
300Mbps,450Mbps,867Mbps,or1.3Gbps)