HP E709, 6500 manual Security settings, Data encryption

Chapter 8

There are two communication mode options:

•Ad hoc: On an ad hoc network, the device is set to ad hoc communication mode and communicates directly with other wireless devices without the use of a wireless access point, such as a wireless router or Apple AirPort Base Station.

All devices on the ad hoc network must:

ƕBe 802.11 compatible

ƕHave ad hoc as the communication mode

ƕHave the same network name (SSID)

ƕBe on the same subnet and same channel

ƕHave the same 802.11 security settings

•Infrastructure (recommended): On an infrastructure network, the device is set to infrastructure communication mode and communicates with other devices on the network, whether the devices are wired or wireless, through a wireless access point, such as a router or Apple AirPort Base Station.

Security settings

NOTE: For the available settings for the device, see Understand the network configuration page.

For more information on wireless security, visit www.wifi.org.

•Network authentication: The device's factory default setting is 'Open,' which does not require security for authorization or encryption. The other possible values are 'OpenThenShared,' 'Shared,' and 'WPA-PSK' (Wi-Fi®Protected Access Pre-Shared Key).

WPA increases the level of over-the-air data protection and access control on existing and future Wi-Fi networks. It addresses all known weaknesses of WEP, the original native security mechanism in the 802.11 standard.

WPA2 is the second generation of WPA security; it provides enterprise and consumer Wi-Fi users with a high level of assurance that only authorized users can access their wireless networks.

•Data encryption:

ƕWired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) provides security by encrypting data sent over radio waves from one wireless device to another wireless device. Devices on a WEP-enabled network use WEP keys to encode data. If your network uses WEP, you must know the WEP key(s) it uses.

ƕWPA uses the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) for encryption and employs 802.1X authentication with one of the standard Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) types available today.

ƕWPA2 provides a new encryption scheme, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). AES is defined in counter cipher-block chaining mode (CCM) and supports the Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) to enable security between client workstations operating in ad hoc mode.

136 Configure and manage