AirWorks AWK-1131A
Web Console Configuration
3-16
EAP-TLS
TLS is the standards-based successor to Secure Socket Layer (SSL). It can establish a trusted communication
channel over a distrusted network. TLS provides mutual authentication through certificate exchange. EAP-TLS
is also secure to use. You are required to submit a digital certificate to the authentication server for validation,
but the authentication server must also supply a certificate.
You can use
Basic WLAN Setup
WLAN Certificate Settings
to import your WLAN certificate and enable
EAP-TLS on the client end.
You can check the current certificate status in
Current Status
if it is available.
•
Certificate issued to:
Shows the certificate user
•
Certificate issued by
: Shows the certificate issuer
•
Certificate expiration date
: Indicates the expiration date of the certificate
EAP-TTLS
It is usually much easier to re-use existing authentication systems, such as a Windows domain or Active
Directory, LDAP directory, or Kerberos realm, rather than creating a parallel authentication system. As a result,
TTLS (Tunneled TLS) and PEAP (Protected EAP) are used to support the use of so-called “legacy authentication
methods.”
TTLS and PEAP work in a similar way. First, they establish a TLS tunnel (EAP-TLS for example), and validate
whether the network is trustworthy with digital certificates on the authentication server. This step establishes
a tunnel that protects the next step (or “inner” authentication), and consequently is sometimes referred to as
“outer” authentication. The TLS tunnel is then used to encrypt an older authentication protocol that
authenticates the user for the network.
As you can see, digital certificates are still needed for outer authentication in a simplified form. Only a small
number of certificates are required, which can be generated by a small certificate authority. Certificate
reduction makes TTLS and PEAP much more popular than EAP-TLS.
The AWK-1131A provides some non-cryptographic EAP methods, including
PAP
,
CHAP
,
MS-CHAP
, and
MS-CHAP-V2
. These EAP methods are not recommended for direct use on wireless networks. However, they
might be useful as inner authentication methods with TTLS and PEAP.
