Security
•WPA Pre‐shared Key Type specifies the WPA pre‐shared key type and the key for client authentication with this radio interface or VAP. If you use the WPA pre‐shared‐key, you must configure all wireless clients with the same key entered here to communicate with this interface or VAP.
–Hexadecimal uses a key made up of a string of 64 hexadecimal numbers.
–Alphanumeric uses a key in an easy‐to‐remember form of letters and numbers. The string must be from 8 to 63 characters and can include spaces.
–WPA Pre‐Shared Key specifies the pre‐shared key in the appropriate format for the type of key you selected: a string of 64 hexadecimal numbers, or a string of 8 to 63 alphanumeric characters.
802.1x Authentication:
Wireless clients can be authenticated for network access by checking their MAC address against the local database configured on the access point, or by using the IEEE 802.1x network access authentication protocol to look up their MAC addresses on a RADIUS server. The 802.1x protocol can also be configured to check other user credentials such as a user name and password.
•802.1x Setup. IEEE 802.1x is a standard framework for network access control that uses a central RADIUS server for user authentication. This control feature prevents unauthorized access to the network by requiring an 802.1x client application to submit user credentials for authentication. The 802.1x standard uses the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) to pass user credentials (either digital certificates, user names and passwords, or other) from the client to the RADIUS server. Client authentication is then verified on the RADIUS server before the access point grants client access to the network.
The 802.1x EAP packets are also used to pass dynamic unicast session keys and static broadcast keys to wireless clients. Session keys are unique to each client and are used to encrypt and correlate traffic passing between a specific client and the access point. You can also enable broadcast key rotation, so the access point provides a dynamic broadcast key and changes it at a specified interval.
You can enable 802.1x as optionally supported or as required to enhance the security of the wireless network.
–Disable indicates that the access point does not support 802.1x authentication for any wireless client. After successful wireless association with the access point, each client is allowed to access the network.
–Supported indicates that the access point supports 802.1x authentication only for clients initiating the 802.1x authentication process (that is, the access point does not initiate 802.1x authentication). For clients initiating 802.1x, only those successfully authenticated are allowed to access the network. For those clients not initiating 802.1x, access to the network is allowed after successful wireless association with the access point.
–Required indicates that the access point enforces 802.1x authentication for all associated wireless clients. If 802.1x authentication is not initiated by a client, the access point will initiate authentication. Only those clients successfully authenticated with 802.1x are allowed to access the network.
