User Guide

3 - Software
Chapter 3 - Software Configuration
32 ASUS Wireless "WL-HDD" User’s Manual
Relationship among keys
Authentication Method Encryption Passphrase WEP Key 1~4
Open System or Shared Key None Not required Not required
WEP-64 bits 1~64 characters 10 hex digits
WEP-128 bits 1~64 characters 26 hex digits
Shared Key WEP-64 bits 1~64 characters 10 hex digits
WEP-128 bits 1~64 characters 26 hex digits
WPA-PSK TKIP only 8~63 characters Not required
AES only 8~63 characters Not required
Encryption
If the Open System or Shared Key or Shared Key authentication method is
used, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption is applied. If the WPA-
PSK method is used, a newly proposed TKIP or AES encryption in WPA is
applied.
Enabling WEP can protect your data from eavesdroppers. If you do not
need this feature, select None to skip the following setting. The ASUS
Wireless "WL-HDD" supports both 64-bit and 128-bit encryption using
the WEP algorithm. Select the type of encryption you want to use (64 or
128 bit) and configure one to four WEP Keys. The 128-bit method is more
secure than the 64-bit method.
64/128 bits versus 40/104 bits
You may be confused about configuring WEP encryption, especially when
using multiple wireless LAN products from different vendors. There are
two levels of WEP Encryption: 64 bits and 128 bits. 64-bit WEP and 40-bit
WEP are the same encryption method and can interoperate in the wireless
network. This lower level of WEP encryption uses a 40 bit (10 hex digits
[0~9, a~f, and A~F]) as a “secret key” (set by user), and a 24 bit
“initialization vector” (not under user control). This together makes 64 bits
(40 + 24). Some vendors refer to this level of WEP as 40 bits and others
refer to this as 64 bits. ASUS WLAN products use the term 64 bits when
referring to this lower level of encryption. Secondly, 104 bit WEP and 128
bit WEP are the same encryption method and can interoperate in the wireless
network. This higher level of WEP encryption uses 104 bits (26 hex digits)
as a “secret key” (set by user), and a 24 bit “initialization vector” (not
under user control). This together makes 128 bits (104 + 24). Some vendors
refer to this level of WEP as 104 bits and others refer to this as 128 bits.
ASUS WLAN products use the term 128 bits when referring to this higher
level of encryption.