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Using the Belkin Wireless Network Utility
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2. 128-Bit Encryption
As a result of 64-bit WEP’s potential security weaknesses, a
more secure method of 128-bit encryption was developed.
128-bit encryption includes a key length of 104 bits plus 24
additional bits of system-generated data (128 bits total). Some
hardware manufacturers refer to 128-bit as 104-bit encryption.
Most of the new wireless equipment in the market today
supports both 64-bit WEP and 128-bit WEP encryption, but you
might have older equipment that only supports 64-bit WEP. All
Belkin wireless products will support both 64-bit WEP and
128-bit encryption.
Encryption Keys
After selecting either the 64-bit WEP or 128-bit encryption mode,
it is critical that you generate an encryption key. If the encryption
key is not consistent throughout the entire wireless network, your
wireless networking devices will be unable to communicate with
one another.
You can enter your key by typing in the hex key. A hex
(hexadecimal) key is a mixture of numbers and letters from A–F
and 0–9. For 64-bit WEP, you need to enter 10 hex characters.
For 128-bit WEP, you need to enter 26 hex characters.
For instance:
AF 0F 4B C3 D4
= 64-bit WEP key
C3 03 0F AF 0F 4B B2 C3 D4 4B C3 D4 E7
=
128-bit key
Write down the hex WEP key from your wireless router or access
point and enter it manually into the hex WEP key table in your
Card’s configuration screen.
3. Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
WPA is a new Wi-Fi standard that improves upon the security
features of WEP. To use WPA security, the drivers and software
of your wireless equipment must be upgraded to support it.
These updates will be found on your wireless vendor’s website.
There are two types of WPA security: Wi-Fi Protected Access-
Pre-Shared Key (WPA-PSK), typically for use in home-network
configurations when not operating on a radius server; and WPA
(with radius server), typically for office-network configurations.
