ZyXEL Communications P-660HN-F1A, User Manual

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Chapter 8 Wireless LAN
P-660HN-F1A User’s Guide
169
8.7.7.3 How WPS Works
When two WPS-enabled devices connect, each device must assume a specific role.
One device acts as the registrar (the device that supplies network and security
settings) and the other device acts as the enrollee (the device that receives
network and security settings. The registrar creates a secure EAP (Extensible
Authentication Protocol) tunnel and sends the network name (SSID) and the WPA-
PSK or WPA2-PSK pre-shared key to the enrollee. Whether WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK
is used depends on the standards supported by the devices. If the registrar is
already part of a network, it sends the existing information. If not, it generates
the SSID and WPA(2)-PSK randomly.
The following figure shows a WPS-enabled client (installed in a notebook
computer) connecting to a WPS-enabled access point.
Figure 61 How WPS works
The roles of registrar and enrollee last only as long as the WPS setup process is
active (two minutes). The next time you use WPS, a different device can be the
registrar if necessary.
The WPS connection process is like a handshake; only two devices participate in
each WPS transaction. If you want to add more devices you should repeat the
process with one of the existing networked devices and the new device.
SECURE TUNNEL
SECURITY INFO
WITHIN 2 MINUTES
COMMUNICATION
ACTIVATE
WPS
ACTIVATE
WPS
WPS HANDSHAKE
REGISTRAR ENROLLEE