User's Manual
Table Of Contents
- User’s Manual for the NETGEAR Super AG Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter WG111U
- Technical Support
- Statement of Conditions
- FCC Information to User
- Regulatory Compliance Information
- Export Restrictions
- Europe - EU Declaration of Conformity
- Requirements For Operation in the European Community
- Canadian Department of Communications Radio Interference Regulations
- Chapter 1 About This Manual
- Chapter 2 Introduction
- Chapter 3 Basic Setup
- Chapter 4 Configuration
- Chapter 5 Wireless Security Configuration
- Chapter 6 Troubleshooting
- Basic Tips
- Frequently Asked Questions
- General Questions
- Why do I see no more than 54 Mbps on the Configuration Utility status line?
- The WG111U Smart Configuration Utility keeps asking me to save my settings
- Ad Hoc mode is not working correctly
- How to know if the WG111U card has received a valid IP address
- How to use XP’s own Wireless configuration utility
- I cannot connect to the AP that I want from the Networks browser list
- New Hardware Wizard appears after installation has completed
- How to get a PDF copy of the Manual
- General Questions
- Appendix A Technical Specifications
- Appendix B Wireless Networking Basics
- What You Need To Use a Router with a Broadband Modem
- Preparing Your Computers for TCP/IP Networking
- Configuring Windows 95, 98, and Me for TCP/IP Networking
- Configuring Windows NT4, 2000 or XP for IP Networking
- Configuring the Macintosh for TCP/IP Networking
- Verifying the Readiness of Your Internet Account
- Restarting the Network
- Glossary
- Index
User’s Manual for the NETGEAR Super AG Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter WG111U
Wireless Networking Basics B-9
202-10065-01
• Enhanced data privacy
• Robust key management
• Data origin authentication
• Data integrity protection
Starting in August of 2003, all new Wi-Fi certified products had to support WPA and all existing
Wi-Fi certified products had one year to comply with the new standard or lose their Wi-Fi
certification. NETGEAR has implemented WPA on client and access point products. As of August
2004, all Wi-Fi certified products must support WPA.
How Does WPA Compare to WEP?
WEP is a data encryption method and is not intended as a user authentication mechanism. WPA
user authentication is implemented using 802.1x and the Extensible Authentication Protocol
(EAP). Support for 802.1x authentication is required in WPA. In the 802.11 standard, 802.1x
authentication was optional. For details on EAP specifically, refer to IETF's RFC 2284.
With 802.11 WEP, all access points and client wireless adapters on a particular wireless LAN must
use the same encryption key. A major problem with the 802.11 standard is that the keys are
cumbersome to change. If you don't update the WEP keys often, an unauthorized person with a
sniffing tool can monitor your network for less than a day and decode the encrypted messages.
Products based on the 802.11 standard alone offer system administrators no effective method to
update the keys.
For 802.11, WEP encryption is optional. For WPA, encryption using Temporal Key Integrity
Protocol (TKIP) is required. TKIP replaces WEP with a new encryption algorithm that is stronger
than the WEP algorithm, but that uses the calculation facilities present on existing wireless devices
to perform encryption operations. TKIP provides important data encryption enhancements
including a per-packet key mixing function, a message integrity check (MIC) named Michael, an
extended initialization vector (IV) with sequencing rules, and a re-keying mechanism. Through
these enhancements, TKIP addresses all of known WEP vulnerabilities.