Adaptec 2012500 User Guide - Page 29

Changing the Set-up of Your WLAN Changing the WEP Encryption Settings Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a security feature that encrypts the data being sent over the radio waves of your WLAN. The default Enable WEP Encryption setting is Disabled. Disabled encryption allows your Wireless devices to share data in plain text. ! Caution: Adaptec strongly recommends that you protect your network by enabling WEP encryption. Unprotected networks are vulnerable to security breaches from unauthorized users. Setting 64-Bit or 128-Bit encryption increases data security by limiting network access through specified Wireless stations only, although it may slow data transmission. Set the level of security you require for your WLAN. For all the computers on your WLAN to communicate with each other and share data, they must have identical WEP Key settings. (WEP Keys control encryption; the Default Key determines which of the four WEP Keys are used for encryption and decryption.) WEP keys can be numeric, alphabetic, or a combination of both. You can choose between Hexadecimal, which restricts you to numbers 0-9 and letters A-F, and Alphanumeric, which restricts you to numbers 0-9 and letters a-z/A-Z. Note: If you are setting up a new WLAN, you can use the Wireless Access Point Utility to create WEP keys and set a default key. See Setting New WEP Keys on page 23 below for more information. To change the encryption setting of your Wireless AP: 1 Open the Wireless Access Point Utility and log on. (See page 12.) 2 Click the Security tab. The Security page opens, as shown on page 17. 3 To enable encryption, select Enable WEP Encryption. Then continue with Step 4. To disable encryption, deselect Enable WEP Encryption, then click Save. Click Reboot on the Success page when prompted. 22