User's Manual

System Configuration
5-46
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
WEP provides a basic level of security, preventing unauthorized
access to the network and encrypting data transmitted between
wireless clients and the access point. WEP uses static shared
keys (fixed-length hexadecimal or alphanumeric strings) that are
manually distributed to all clients that want to use the network.
WEP is the security protocol initially specified in the IEEE 802.11
standard for wireless communications. Unfortunately, WEP has
been found to be flawed. For more robust wireless security, the
SMC2552W-G provides Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) for
improved data encryption and user authentication.
Setting up shared keys enables the basic IEEE 802.11 Wired
Equivalent Privacy (WEP) on the access point to prevent
unauthorized access to the network.
If you choose to use WEP shared keys instead of an open
system, be sure to define at least one static WEP key for user
authentication and data encryption. Also, be sure that the WEP
shared keys are the same for each client in the wireless network.