Broadcast SSID and Security Mode

To configure security on the access point, select a security mode and fill in the related boxes as described in the following table. (Note you can also allow or prohibit the Broadcast SSID as an extra precaution as mentioned in the following section.)

Field

Description

 

 

Broadcast SSID

Select the Broadcast SSID setting by clicking the Allow or Prohibit option.

 

By default, the access point broadcasts the Service Set Identifier (SSID) in

 

its beacon frames. Suppress this broadcast to discourage stations from

 

automatically discovering your access point.

 

You can suppress (prohibit) this broadcast to discourage stations from

 

automatically discovering your access point. When the AP’s broadcast SSID

 

is suppressed, the network name will not be displayed in the List of Available

 

Networks on a client station. Instead, the client must be configured with the

 

exact network before it will be able to connect.

 

 

Security Mode

Select the Security Mode. Select one of the following:

 

Plain-text

 

Static WEP

 

IEEE 802.1x

 

WPA with RADIUS

 

WPA-PSK

 

Security modes other than plain-text apply only to configuration of the internal

 

network. On the guest network, you can use only plain-text mode. (For more

 

information, see “Setting up Guest Access” on page 99.)

 

 

Plain-text

Plain Text means any data transferred to and from the Gateway 7001 Series self-managed AP is not encrypted.

There are no further options for plain-text mode.

Plain text mode can be useful during initial network configuration or for problem solving, but it is not recommended for regular use on the internal network because it is not secure.

Guest Network

Plain text mode is the only mode in which you can run the guest network, which is by definition an unsecure LAN always virtually or physically separated from any sensitive information on the internal LAN.

The absence of security on the Guest AP is designed to make it as easy as possible for guests to get a connection without having to program any security settings in their clients.

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