Belkin Range Extender/ Access Point manual WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy, Bit WEP, Encryption Keys

Using the Web-Based Advanced User Interface

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)

WEP is a common protocol that adds security to all Wi-Fi-compliant wireless products. WEP was designed to give 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.

128-Bit WEP

As a result of 64-bit WEP’s potential security weaknesses, a more secure method of 128-bit encryption was developed. 128-bit encryption includes a key length of 104 bits plus 24 additional bits of system-generated data (128 bits total). Some hardware manufacturers refer to 128-bit as 104-bit encryption.

Most of the new wireless equipment in the market today supports both 64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption, but you might have older equipment that only supports 64-bit WEP. All Belkin wireless products will support both 64-bit and 128-bit WEP.

Encryption Keys

After selecting either the 64-bit or 128-bit WEP encryption mode, it is critical that you generate an encryption key. If the encryption key is not consistent throughout the entire wireless network, your wireless networking devices will be unable to communicate with one another on your network and you will not be able to successfully communicate within your network.

You can enter your key by typing in the hex key manually, or you can type in a passphrase in the “Passphrase” field and click “Generate” to create a key. A hex (hexadecimal) key is a combination of numbers and letters from A–F and 0–9. For 64-bit WEP, you need to enter 10 hex characters. For 128-bit WEP, you need to enter 26 hex characters.

For instance:

AF 0F 4B C3 D4 = 64-bit WEP key

C3 03 0F AF 0F 4B B2 C3 D4 4B C3 D4 E7 = 128-bit WEP key

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