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D-Link DSL-2885A User Manual
Appendix B - Networking Basics
Wireless Security
This section will show you the different levels of security you can use to protect your data from intruders. The DSL-2885A offers the
following types of security:
• WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2)
• WPA2-PSK (Pre-Shared Key)
• WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)
• WPA-PSK (Pre-Shared Key)
What is WPA?
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), is a Wi-Fi standard that was designed to improve the security features of WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy).
The 2 major improvements over WEP:
• Improved data encryption through the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). TKIP scrambles the keys using a hashing
algorithm and by adding an integrity-checking feature, ensures that the keys haven’t been tampered with. WPA2 is
based on 802.11i and uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) instead of TKIP.
• User authentication, which is generally missing in WEP, through the extensible authentication protocol (EAP). WEP
regulates access to a wireless network based on a computer’s hardware-specific MAC address, which is relatively simple
to be sniffed out and stolen. EAP is built on a more secure public-key encryption system to ensure that only authorized
network users can access the network.
WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK uses a passphrase or key to authenticate your wireless connection. The key is an alpha-numeric password between
8 and 63 characters long. The password can include symbols (!?*&_) and spaces. This key must be the exact same key entered on your
wireless router or access point.
WPA/WPA2 incorporates user authentication through the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). EAP is built on a more secure public
key encryption system to ensure that only authorized network users can access the network.
