Wireless/Redundant Edge Services xl Module Management and Configuration Guide WS.01.03 or greater

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Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)
Configuring a WLAN
The Wireless Edge Services xl Module supports three types of authentication:
■ 802.1X Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
■ Web authentication (Web-Auth)
■ media access control (MAC) authentication
The first two types of authentication, which are configured as part of an
individual WLAN’s settings, are mutually exclusive. A WLAN can require
stations to authenticate using 802.1X or using Web-Auth. These options are
described in the sections below.
MAC authentication, which is configured globally and applied to one or more
WLANs, affects wireless stations before they authenticate and associate to a
WLAN. This WLAN may additionally force the stations to authenticate using
802.1X or Web-Auth. See Chapter 6: Wireless Network Management to learn
how to configure MAC authentication filters.
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 it in shutdown status, dropping all of its traffic
except EAP messages. The module forwards these messages to an authenti-
cation server such as a RADIUS server, and the station and server verify each
other’s identities. The authentication server can also issue the station a
dynamic key for encryption.