3Com 3CRWE51196 User Guide - Page 37

Wireless Settings 37 supporting this feature. Different manufacturers have developed different ways of converting plain text and so interoperability is not guaranteed. If you are experiencing difficulty, the Manual Hex Key method is supported by most vendors. There are four methods available to generate the encryption keys: I Manual Key Entry - This method allows you to manually enter hex keys. Virtually all manufacturers support this scheme. Enter a two digit hexadecimal number in every box. Hexadecimal numbers are formed from 0-9 and A-F. I 3Com Encryption String- This method is supported by 3Com Wireless products. The string can contain any alpha numeric characters and must be between 6 and 30 characters long. A single string will automatically generate 4 unique keys for 64 or 128 bit WEP. I ASCII - This method is supported by some adapter cards running under Windows XP. The string must be exactly 5 characters for 64 bit WEP and 13 characters for 128 bit WEP. You must enter a separate string for each of the 4 Keys. You can leave a string blank provided this Key is not selected as the Active Transmit Key. I Passphrase - This is another common method and similar to the 3Com Encryption string. In 64 bit WEP, the Passphrase will generate 4 different keys. However, in 128 bit WEP, this method only generates 1 key which is replicated for all 4 keys. The passphrase can be up to 31 characters long and may contain any alpha numeric or symbol characters. Select from the drop down list the key generation method you wish to use. If you have other wireless products choose the scheme that is compatible with these, then enter the appropriate information. If you encounter any difficulty when you enable WEP ensure that you check that each Key on your wireless computer is exactly the same as each key on your Gateway. In other words, Key number 1 on the Wireless computer must have the same Hex number as Key number 1 on the Gateway, Key 2 on the Wireless computer must match Key 2 on the Gateway and so on. The "Active Transmit Key" selects which of the 4 Keys the Gateway uses when it transmits. You can change the selected key periodically to increase the security of your network. Your wireless computers do not need to use the same Active Transmit Key number as your Gateway - so you could for example select Key 2 on the Gateway and Key 4 on your computers. Some wireless adapters have only one key available on their WEP configuration page. If this is the case ensure it is the same as Key 1 on the Gateway and that it is selected as the active transmit key.