98
| Encryption
Dell PowerConnect W-Series Instant Access Point 6.1.2.3-2.0.0.0
| User Guide
Understanding WPA and WPA2
The Wi-Fi Alliance created the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and WPA2 certifications to describe the 802.11i
standard. The standard was written to replace WEP, which was found to have numerous security flaws. It was
taking longer than expected to complete the standard, so WPA was created based on a draft of 802.11i, which
allowed people to move forward quickly to create more secure WLANs. WPA2 encompasses the full
implementation of the 802.11i standard.
Table 11
summarizes the differences between the two certifications.
WPA2 is a superset that encompasses the full WPA feature set. WPA and WPA2 can be further classified as
follows:
Personal—Personal is also called as Pre-Shared Key (PSK). In this type, a unique key is shared with each client
in the network. Users have to use this key to securely login to the network. The key remains the same until it is
changed by authorized personnel. Key change intervals can also be configured.
Enterprise—Enterprise is more secure when compared to WPA Personal. In this type, every client
automatically receives a unique encryption key after securely logging on to the network. This key is long and
automatically updated regularly. While WPA uses TKIP, WPA2 uses AES algorithm.
Recommended Authentication and Encryption Combinations
Table 12
summarizes the recommendations for authentication and encryption combinations that should be used
in Wi-Fi networks.
Table 11
WPA and WPA2 Features
Certification
Authentication
Encryption
WPA
PSK
IEEE 802.1X with Extensible
Authentication Protocol (EAP)
Temporal Key Integrity Protocol
(TKIP) with message integrity check
(MIC)
WPA2
PSK
IEEE 802.1X with EAP
Advanced Encryption Standard --
Counter Mode with Cipher Block
Chaining Message Authentication
Code (AESCCMP)
Table 12
Recommended Authentication and Encryption Combinations
Network Type
Authentication
Encryption
Employee
802.1X
AES
Guest Network
Captive Portal
None
Voice Network or Handheld devices
802.1X or PSK as supported by the
device
AES if possible, TKIP or WEP if
necessary (combine with restricted
policy enforcement firewall (PEF) user
role).
Summary of Contents for PowerConnect W-IAP175P
Page 1: ...Dell PowerConnect W Series Instant Access Point 6 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 User Guide ...
Page 8: ...8 Contents Dell PowerConnect W Series Instant Access Point 6 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 User Guide ...
Page 12: ...12 Figures Dell PowerConnect W Series Instant Access Point 6 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 User Guide ...
Page 14: ...14 Tables Dell PowerConnect W Series Instant Access Point 6 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 User Guide ...
Page 58: ...58 Mesh Network Dell PowerConnect W Series Instant Access Point 6 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 User Guide ...
Page 72: ...72 Managing IAPs Dell PowerConnect W Series Instant Access Point 6 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 User Guide ...
Page 74: ...74 NTP Server Dell PowerConnect W Series Instant Access Point 6 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 User Guide ...
Page 96: ...96 Authentication Dell PowerConnect W Series Instant Access Point 6 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 User Guide ...
Page 148: ...148 Monitoring Dell PowerConnect W Series Instant Access Point 6 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 User Guide ...
