Netgear WGT624 WGT624v2 Reference Manual - Page 132

Reference Manual for the 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router WGT624 v2 • Shared Key Authentication requires that the station and the access point have the same WEP Key to authenticate. These two authentication procedures are described below. Open System Authentication The following steps occur when two devices use Open System Authentication: 1. The station sends an authentication request to the access point. 2. The access point authenticates the station. 3. The station associates with the access point and joins the network. This process is illustrated in below. Open System Authentication Steps 1) Authentication request sent to AP 2) AP authenticates Client attempting to connect 3) Client connects to network Access Point (AP) 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 Cable or DLS modem Figure 7-4: 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. D-4 Wireless Networking Basics M-10153-01