3Com 3CRWE554G72T User Guide - Page 54

54 CHAPTER 5: ROUTER CONFIGURATION Nitro Mode The presence of an 11b device in your network can adversely affect the performance of an 11g device, such as the Router. Nitro Mode ensures that the effects of an 11b device are minimized. 3Com recommends that you enable Nitro Mode if you have one or more 11b devices in your network. Check the Enable Nitro Mode check box to activate Nitro Mode. The client machines must also support Nitro Mode for this feature to work. Encryption When setting up wireless networks, it is important to remember that with encryption disabled, anyone with a Wireless PC can eavesdrop on your network. 3Com recommends that you get the network working with encryption disabled first and then enable it as the last step. This will simplify setting up your network. The Router supports two types of encryption: ■ WPA - Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a 256 bit encryption method with keys that change over time. ■ WEP - Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a 64 bit or 128 bit encryption method with user configurable fixed keys. WPA provides a higher level of security, provided by its longer key and dynamic changes made to the key over time. 3Com recommends that you use WPA with any clients which support it. If you enable encryption on the Router, you must reconfigure your wireless PCs to use exactly the same Encryption Type and Keys otherwise the devices will not understand each other. The encryption methods used by the Router secure data transmitted through wireless communications between the Router and its wireless clients. Enabling encryption has no security effect on data transmitted through wired (Ethernet) connections or through your connections to the Internet. Configuring WPA The only configuration that is needed for WPA is to set up an Encryption authentication method. You can choose to use a RADIUS server to authenticate clients, or you can specify a pre-shared key.