3Com OfficeConnect 3CRWE454A72, User Manual

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38 C
HAPTER
4: A
CCESS
P
OINT
C
ONFIGURATION
4 Click Apply to generate the key.
If 802.1X authentication is to be used please see 802.1X Authentication
section.
Configuring WEP
Encryption
There are two levels of WEP encryption available, 64 bit (sometimes
referred to as 40 bit) and 128 bit. 128 bit will result in a higher level of
security, but may cause a slight decrease in performance.
Encryption Keys
Figure 20 Encryption Keys Screen showing WEP configuration
A Key is a hexadecimal (0-9, A-F) number used to encrypt and decrypt the
data. There can be up to 4 keys and each key can be as long as 26 digits.
The Access Point also offers a method for converting plain text into hex
keys. The text is much easier to remember than hex keys but it relies on
your wireless adapters also supporting this feature. Different
manufacturers have developed different ways of converting plain text and
so interoperability is not guaranteed. If you are experiencing difficulty, the
Manual Hex Key method is supported by most vendors.
There are two methods available to generate the encryption keys: