User Manual

48 Chapter 5 Configuring network security
216669-A
Preliminary Draft - Nortel Networks Confidential
This option enables WPA passphrase security (also known as WPA-Pre
Shared Key (PSK)).
• 802.1x security
This option enables 802.1x security. This option requires network
administration support. This option includes the EAP (with dynamic WEP
keys) security protocols: EAP and PEAP.
802.1x is the standard for wireless LAN security defined by IEEE as 802.1x
for 802.11, or simply 802.1x.
An access point that supports 802.1x and its protocol, Extensible
Authentication Protocol (EAP), acts as the interface between a wireless client
and an authentication server, such as a RADIUS server, to which the access
point communicates over the wired network.
• Pre-Shared Key security (static WEP)
This option enables the use of up to four pre-shared (static wired equivalent
privacy (WEP)) keys that are defined on both the access point and the station.
These keys are stored in an encrypted format in the registry of the Windows
device. When the driver loads and reads the client adapter’s registry
parameters, it also finds the static WEP keys, decrypts them, and stores them
in volatile memory on the adapter.
If a device receives a packet that is not encrypted with the matching key, the
device drops the packet and never delivers it to the intended receiver.
• No security
Link encryption/decryption is disabled; no keys are installed.
Authentication sequence
Enabling EAP on the access point (AP) and configuring the client adapter for
EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS, PEAP (EAP_GTC), or PEAP (EAP-MSCHAP V2)
authentication to the network occurs in the following sequence:
1 The client associates to an AP and begins authentication.
2 Communicating through the AP, the client and the RADIUS server complete
authentication with the password (PEAP) or certificate (EAP-TLS/
EAP-TTLS). The password is never transmitted during the process.