Appendix B - About Wireless LANs
104
WPA2-PSK
This is a later version of WPA (WPA-PSK). The major change is the use of AES
(Advanced Encryption System) for protecting data. AES is very secure, considered to
be unbreakable. The PSK (Pre-shared Key) must be entered on each Wireless station.
If WPA2-PSK is used, the Wireless Stations and the Access Point must have the
same settings for each of the following:
WPA2 PSK
(Pre-shared Key)
Enter the same value on every station and the AP. The
PSK must be from 8 to 63 characters in length. The
256Bit key used for the actual encryption is derived
from this key.
Encryption
The same encryption method must be used. The most
common encryption method is TKIP. Another widely-
supported method is AES.
Wireless LAN Configuration
To allow Wireless Stations to use the Access Point, the Wireless Stations and the
Access Point must use the same settings, as follows:
Mode
On client Wireless Stations, the mode must be set to "Infrastruc-
ture".
(The Access Point is always in "Infrastructure" mode.)
Most Wireless stations will set the correct mode automatically.
SSID (ESSID)
Wireless Stations should use the same SSID (ESSID) as the
Access Point they wish to connect to. Alternatively, the SSID can
be set to "any" or null (blank) to allow connection to any Access
Point.
Security
The Wireless Stations and the Access Point must use the same
settings for Wireless security. (Off, WEP, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK,
WPA-PSK+WPA2-PSK).
WEP:
If WEP is used, the Key size (64Bit, 128Bit), Key value, and
Authentication settings must be the same on the Wireless Stations
and the Access Point.
WPA-PSK:
If WPA is used, all Wireless Stations must be set to
use WPA-PSK, and have the same Pre-shared Key and encryp-
tion system.
WPA2-PSK:
If WPA2 is used, all Wireless Stations must be set to
use WPA2-PSK, and have the same Pre-shared Key and encryp-
tion system.
WPA-PSK +WPA2-PSK:
If WPA-PSK +WPA2-PSK is used, all
Wireless Stations must be set to use WPA-PSK +WPA2-PSK, and
have the same Pre-shared Key and encryption system.
For
Ad-hoc networks
(no Access Point), all Wireless stations
must use the same security settings.
