Encryption involves using a password to encode data sent over a wireless network in order to make the data unintelligible to eavesdroppers. Only devices that know the password can decode the data.
Types of encryption
The printer supports four types of encryption. Each type of encryption has its benefits and limitations.
Encryption type | Description | Benefits | Limitations |
|
|
|
|
Open System | Devices on a | Least complicated | Provides no |
| network do not | strategy. | protection against |
| encrypt data. |
| eavesdroppers. |
|
|
|
|
WEP encryption | Devices on a | Simplest strategy | All devices must |
| network share a | that provides | have the key. The |
| password, called a | encryption. | WEP key does not |
| "WEP key" to |
| change |
| encode and decode |
| automatically. WEP |
| data. |
| encryption provides |
|
|
| less security than |
|
|
| both AES or TKIP. |
|
|
|
|
AES | Advanced | Since the | All devices must |
| Encryption | encryption key | have the key. |
| Standard (AES) is a | changes |
|
| U.S. government | automatically, the |
|
| sponsored | data is more difficult |
|
| encryption method | for eavesdroppers |
|
| that uses a complex | to decode. |
|
| algorithm called |
|
|
| "Rijndael." AES |
|
|
| uses encryption |
|
|
| keys to encode |
|
|
| data. AES |
|
|
| automatically |
|
|
| changes the |
|
|
| encryption keys |
|
|
| after a certain time |
|
|
| interval, thus |
|
|
| making the wireless |
|
|
| network less |
|
|
| vulnerable to |
|
|
| eavesdropping. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TKIP | Temporal Key | Since the | All devices must |
| Integrity Protocol | encryption key | have the key. |
| (TKIP) uses | changes |
|
| encryption keys to | automatically, the |
|
| encode data. TKIP | data is more difficult |
|
| automatically | for eavesdroppers |
|
|
| to decode. |
|
User's guide | 29 |