Linksys WCF12 User Guide - Page 13

ENCRYPTION Instant WirelessTM Series The Encryption screen allows you to customize security settings. Use this screen to generate 64-bit or 128-bit WEP keys. Wireless CompactFlash Card Encryption (WEP) You have three choices: Disabled, 64-bit, or 128-bit WEP encryption. Select the option you wish to use. If you enable WEP encryption, then you can choose to create the encryption keys using a passphrase or create the encryption keys manually. Create Keys with Passphrase The Passphrase can be any text string with a maximum of 31 alphanumeric characters. Note: Creating and using the passphrase is recommended for easy WEP configuration and security purposes. Create Keys Manually Click Alphanumeric if you are using an alphanumeric phrase, or click Hexadecimal if you are using a hexadecimal number. Enter an alphanumeric phrase or hexadecimal number for each key that you wish to encrypt. (Hexadecimal numbers are comprised of numbers 0-9 and letters A-F.) Make sure that the values entered in these key fields are identical to the encryption keys used on the other wireless devices in the network. Once you have chosen your key encryption method and entered either the Passphrase or Manual Key(s), click the Apply button to save your changes or Undo to delete them. To save your changes and close the Configuration Utility, click the OK button. Important: All the devices in your wireless network must have identical keys, so they can communicate with each other. Figure 4-7 An acronym for Wired Equivalent Privacy, WEP is an encryption scheme used to protect your wireless data communications. WEP uses a combination of 64bit or 128-bit keys to control network access and provide encryption security for every data transmission. To decode a data transmission, each point (device) in a network must use an identical 64-bit or 128-bit key. Higher encryption levels mean higher levels of security, but, due to the complexity of the encryption, they may mean decreased network performance. 20 21