NETGEAR WG511U user manual How Does WPA Compare to WEP?

User’s Manual for the NETGEAR Double 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card 32-bit CardBus WG511U

The IEEE introduced the WEP as an optional security measure to secure 802.11 (Wi-Fi) WLANs, but inherent weaknesses in the standard soon became obvious. In response to this situation, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced a new security architecture that remedies the short comings of WEP. This standard, formerly known as Safe Secure Network (SSN), is designed to work with existing

802.11products and offers forward compatibility with 802.11i, the new wireless security architecture being defined in the IEEE.

WPA offers the following benefits:

•Enhanced data privacy

•Robust key management

•Data origin authentication

•Data integrity protection

Starting August of 2003, all new Wi-Fi certified products had to support WPA. NETGEAR has implemented WPA on its client and access point products. Existing Wi-Fi certified products had until August of 2004 to add WPA support or they would loose their Wi-Fi certification.

While the new IEEE 802.11i standard is being ratified, wireless vendors have agreed on WPA as an interoperable interim standard.

How Does WPA Compare to WEP?

WEP is a data encryption method and is not intended as a user authentication mechanism. WPA user authentication is implemented using 802.1x and the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). Support for 802.1x authentication is required in WPA. In the 802.11 standard, 802.1x authentication was optional. For details on EAP specifically, refer to IETF's RFC 2284.

With 802.11 WEP, all access points and client wireless adapters on a particular wireless LAN must use the same encryption key. A major problem with the 802.11 standard is that the keys are cumbersome to change. If you don't update the WEP keys often, an unauthorized person with a sniffing tool can monitor your network for less than a day and decode the encrypted messages. Products based on the 802.11 standard alone offer system administrators no effective method to update the keys.

B-14 Wireless Networking Basics

August 2004