Wireless Security Options

Wireless N150 Access Point WN604

•TKIP + AES. This setting supports both WPA and WPA2. Broadcast packets use TKIP. For unicast (point-to-point) transmissions, WPA clients use TKIP, and WPA2 clients use AES.

Passphrase. To use the passphrase to generate the WEP keys, enter a passphrase and click the Generate Keys button. You can also enter the keys directly. These keys have to match the other wireless stations.

Key 1, Key 2, Key 3, Key 4. If using WEP, select the key to be used as the default key. Data transmissions are always encrypted using the default key. The other keys can only be used only to decrypt received data.

WPA Preshared Key Passphrase. If using WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK, enter the passphrase here. All wireless stations have to use the same passphrase (network key). The network key has to be from 8 to 64 characters in length.

Wireless Client Security Separation. If enabled, the associated wireless clients cannot communicate with each other. (This feature is intended for hotspots and other public access situations.) The default is Disabled.

Your wireless data transmissions can be received well beyond your walls by anyone with a compatible adapter. For this reason, use the security features of your wireless equipment. The access point provides highly effective security features. Deploy the security features appropriate to your needs.

There are several ways you can enhance the security of your wireless network:

•Restrict access based on MAC address. You can restrict access to only trusted PCs so that unknown PCs cannot wirelessly connect to the WN604. MAC address filtering adds an obstacle against unwanted access to your network, but the data broadcast over the wireless link is fully exposed.

•Turn off the broadcast of the wireless network name (SSID). If you disable broadcast of the SSID, only devices that have the correct SSID can connect. This nullifies the wireless network “discovery” feature of some products such as Windows XP, Vista, and Unix systems, but the data is still fully exposed to a determined snoop using specialized test equipment like wireless sniffers.

•Use WPA or WPA-PSK. Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) data encryption provides data security. The very strong authentication along with dynamic per frame rekeying of WPA makes it virtually impossible to compromise.

•Use WEP. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption provides data security. WEP is a legacy security setting. NETGEAR recommends that you use WPA2 or WPA for stronger wireless security.

Configure Security