User's Manual

Authentication
Especially on wireless networks it is easy to gain physical access to the network.
Hence it is important to make sure that only the intended group of people is able
to use the network and any resources attached to it. The identity of the users has
to be checked and this is called authentication.
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Different authentication methods (including “no authentication”) are supported.
Each method requires different authentication parameters. The user’s credentials
are taken from the corresponding page (see “User Information”) and are not specific
to a particular method of authentication. If the user selects a different method of
authentication, the user’s personal data are reused without resetting or changing it.
> Communication over the air interface is usually encrypted. For some authentication
methods encryption of network traffic is required and cannot be turned off.
If such an authentication method is selected, the appropriate encryption method
is activated as well.
> The supported methods of authentication are “Open”,“Shared”,“WPA-PSK”, and “WPA”.
> The method of encryption is selected from a drop down list (e.g. None, WEP, TKIP,
and AES). This list is only available when it is allowed for by the selected method
of authentication. The dependencies between authentication method and
encryption scheme are shown here:
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> The field for entering a user name holds the user’s account name used for logging
into the wireless network. This usually different from the user’s real name
(e.g. “jdoe17” vs.“John Doe”). For a new profile the user name is set initially to the
account name of the current user.
> There are two fields for setting a password in a profile. The first determines
whether the password is contained in the profile or taken from the user’s
account information. Its possible values are “Prompt for password” and
“Use password”. The field for entering a password and the corresponding
check box are active only when “Use password” is selected.
> The field for the password does not show the password in clear text but as
a sequence of asterisks. As long as “Clear text” is checked, the password is
displayed in clear text. The check box is initially not marked.
> The field for the user’s certificate displays the “friendly name” of the certificate
selected by the user. This field is initially empty (i.e. no certificate is preselected).
A certificate is selected in the dialogue shown below. This list of certificates
shows all certificates for the current user. The list contains only usable
certificates, i.e. expired or invalid certificates are not shown.
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