Netgear WFS709TP WFS709TP Setup Manual - Page 98

WFS709TP ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch Software Administration Manual Determine the Authentication Method A user must authenticate to the system in order to access WLAN resources. Table 5-1 describes the types of authentication that you can configure for a WLAN. Table 5-1. Authentication Methods Method Description None (also called open system authentication) This is the default authentication protocol. The client's identity, in the form of the media access control (MAC) address of the wireless adapter in the wireless client, is passed to the WFS709TP. Essentially, any client requesting access to the WLAN is authenticated. IEEE 802.1x The IEEE 802.1x authentication standard allows for the use of keys that are dynamically generated on a per-user basic (as opposed to a static key that is the same on all devices in the network). The 802.1x standard requires the use of a RADIUS authentication server. Most Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) servers do not support 802.1x. Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) WPA implements most of the IEEE 802.11i standard. It is designed for use with an 802.1x authentication server (the Wi-Fi Alliance refers to this mode as WPAEnterprise). WPA uses the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) to dynamically change keys and RC4 stream cipher to encrypt data. WPA in pre-shared key (PSK) mode (WPA-PSK) With WPA-PSK, all clients use the same key (the Wi-Fi Alliance refers to this mode as WPA-Personal). In PSK mode, users must enter a passphrase from 8-63 characters to access the network. PSK is intended for home and small office networks where operating an 802.1x authentication server is not practical. WPA2 WPA2 implements the full IEEE 802.11i standard. In addition to WPA features, WPA2 provides Counter Mode with Cipher Blocking Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol (CCMP) for encryption that uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm. (The Wi-Fi Alliance refers to this mode as WPA2-Enterprise.) WPA2-PSK WPA2-PSK is WPA2 used in PSK mode, where all clients use the same key. (The Wi-Fi Alliance refers to this mode as WPA2-Personal.) Captive Portal Captive Portal allows users to authenticate using a web-based portal. Captive Portal users can be authenticated to an external authentication server or to the internal database on the WFS709TP. Captive Portal authentication does not provide any type of data encryption beyond the SSL encryption used during the authentication. You can configure WEP encryption or WPA-PSK, or WPA2-PSK authentication in conjunction with Captive Portal. MAC Allows the media access control (MAC) address of a device to be authenticated to an external authentication server or to the internal database on the WFS709TP. You can configure MAC authentication in conjunction with WPAPSK or WPA2-PSK authentication. 5-2 Configuring WLANS v1.0, June 2007