Wireless/Redundant Edge Services xl Module Management and Configuration Guide WS.02.xx and greater

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Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)
Configuring a WLAN
You configure authentication methods as part of each individual WLAN’s
settings, and, as far as that WLAN is concerned, they are mutually exclusive.
For example, a WLAN can require stations to authenticate using 802.1X or
using Web-Auth, but not both. However, one WLAN can require 802.1X and a
different WLAN, Web-Auth.
The MAC authentication configured on a WLAN is MAC authentication to a
RADIUS server. That is, the module forwards stations’ MAC addresses to be
checked against accounts stored on a network server.
The Wireless Edge Services xl Module can also enforce de facto local MAC
authentication, using globally configured filters, or MAC standard access
control lists (ACLs), that are applied to the WLAN. You can combine these
filters with another type of authentication: first, the MAC ACLs filter associa-
tion requests; then the WLAN’s specific authentication method initiates. See
Chapter 13: Wireless Network Management to learn how to configure MAC
standard ACLs.
802.1X EAP. 802.1X is the IEEE standard for wireless authentication. When
a station attempts to connect to a WLAN that uses this standard, the Wireless
Edge Services xl Module places the association in closed status, dropping all
traffic except EAP messages. The module forwards these messages to an
authentication server (RADIUS server), and the station and server verify each
other’s identities. During the authentication process, the station and module
also receive dynamic keys for encryption.
As an alternative to a network RADIUS server, you can use the Wireless Edge
Services xl Module’s internal RADIUS capabilities. See Chapter 11: RADIUS
Server for more information.