Configuration
34
Security
The Harmony 802.11a Access Point offers three security settings when operating in
Independent mode:
No Security (None)
,
WEP
, and
802.1x
.
Note:
The Harmony Security Protocol is only available when an 802.11a Access
Point is partnered with an AP Controller.
WEP
The IEEE 802.11a standard specifies an optional encryption feature, known as Wired
Equivalent Privacy or WEP, that is designed to provide a wireless LAN with a security
level equal to what is found on a wired Ethernet network. WEP encrypts the data
portion of each packet exchanged on the 802.11a network using a 64-bit, 128-bit, or
152-bit encryption key (also known as a WEP Key). In addition, Harmony 802.11a
devices use WEP with Shared Key Authentication to prevent unauthorized devices
from associating with an 802.11a network.
When WEP is enabled, two 802.11a devices must have the same WEP Keys and both
devices must be configured to support WEP in order to communicate. If one device is
configured to use WEP but a second device is not, then the two devices will not
communicate, even if both devices have the same WEP Keys. Also, if your wireless
clients roam between multiple 802.11a Access Points, then you must enable WEP on
all 802.11a Access Points.
Follow these steps to configure the WEP parameters:
1.
Open the 802.11a Access Point’s Radio Configuration screen.
2.
Set
Security
to
WEP
. Additional configuration options will appear automatically.
3.
Select a
Key Size
(64 Bit, 128 Bit, or 152 Bit).
4.
Enter one to four
WEP Keys
in the fields provided.
• For 64-bit encryption, a WEP Key is 10 hexadecimal digits (0-9 and A-F).
• For 128-bit encryption, a WEP Key is 26 hexadecimal digits (0-9 and A-F).
• For 152-bit encryption, a WEP Key is 32 hexadecimal digits (0-9 and A-F).
5.
Select one of the configured keys as the
Default Key
; this key is used to encrypt
outgoing data and authentication messages.
6.
Click
Apply to Radio
to save the changes.
7.
Click the
Reboot
button to restart the Access Point in order for the new settings to
take effect.
802.1x
802.1x is an IEEE security standard for authenticating users on local area networks
based on the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). For more information on this
standard, refer to the IEEE Web site at
http://www.ieee.org/
.
On a wireless LAN with 802.1x enabled, an Access Point will block all traffic from a
wireless device until after the user has been authenticated by the network’s RADIUS
(Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) server.
