Netgear DG834Gv1 DG834Gv2 Reference Manual - Page 208

Reference Manual for the Model Wireless ADSL Firewall Router DG834G 2. The access point authenticates the station. 3. The station associates with the access point and joins the network. This process is illustrated below. 802.11b Authentication Open System Steps 1) Authentication request sent to AP 2) AP authenticates Client attempting to connect 3) Client connects to network Access Point Router Cable/DSL ProSafeWirelessVPN Security Firewall PWR TEST IN TER N ET LNK W LA N LO CA L MODEL FVM318 100 ACT Enable LNK/ACT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Figure D-1: Open system authentication Shared Key Authentication The following steps occur when two devices use Shared Key Authentication: 1. The station sends an authentication request to the access point. 2. The access point sends challenge text to the station. 3. The station uses its configured 64-bit or 128-bit default key to encrypt the challenge text, and sends the encrypted text to the access point. 4. The access point decrypts the encrypted text using its configured WEP Key that corresponds to the station's default key. The access point compares the decrypted text with the original challenge text. If the decrypted text matches the original challenge text, then the access point and the station share the same WEP Key and the access point authenticates the station. 5. The station connects to the network. If the decrypted text does not match the original challenge text (the access point and station do not share the same WEP Key), then the access point will refuse to authenticate the station and the station will be unable to communicate with either the 802.11 network or Ethernet network. This process is illustrated below. D-4 Wireless Networking Basics