Belkin F5D9010 Securing your Wi-Fi Network, Encryption Methods, WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy

Using the Belkin Wireless Client Utility

Securing your Wi-Fi Network

Here are a few different ways to maximize the security of your wireless network and protect your data from unwanted intrusion. This section is intended for the home, home office, and small office user. At the time of publication, three encryption methods are available.

Encryption Methods:

Name	64-bit Wired	128-bit	Wi-Fi Protected	Wi-Fi Protected
	Equivalent	Encryption	Access	Access
	Privacy
Acronym	64-bit WEP	128-bit WEP	WPA-TKIP	WPA-AES
Security	Good	Better	Best	Best
Features	Static keys	Static keys	Dynamic key	Dynamic key
			encryption	encryption
			and mutual	and mutual
			authentication	authentication
	Encryption	Added security	TKIP (temporal	AES (Advanced
	keys based on	over 64-bit	key integrity	Encryption
	RC4 algorithm	WEP using a	protocol) added	Standard) does
	(typically	key length of	so that keys	not cause any
	40-bit keys)	104 bits, plus	are rotated and	throughput loss.
		24 additional	encryption is
		bits of system-	strengthened
		generated data

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)

WEP is a common protocol that adds security to all Wi-Fi-compliant wireless products. WEP gives wireless networks the equivalent level of privacy protection as a comparable wired network.

64-Bit WEP

64-Bit WEP was first introduced with 64-bit encryption, which includes a key length of 40 bits plus 24 additional bits of system-generated data (64 bits total). Some hardware manufacturers refer to 64-bit as 40-bit encryption. Shortly after the technology was introduced, researchers found that 64-bit encryption was too easy to decode.

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