Motorola WPCI810GP manual Installation, Small Office/Home Office Users, Security Options

Section 2 Installation

Small Office/Home Office Users

The access point that communicates with the WPCI810 has a pre-assigned network name (SSID) that the WPCI810 recognizes upon startup.

If you are setting up a new wireless network with WEP security, the WPCI810 should use the same network key you used for your network.

For more information on WEP security, see “Security Options”.

If you are connecting to an existing WEP enabled network, obtain the network key from the access point.

If you are connecting to a WPA-enabled access point, obtain the WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) wireless network key information (network authentication type, encryption type, network key) from the access point.

Security Options

The WPCI810 is designed for both the home user and business. WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) protocol is designed into the WPCI810. WPA is a powerful, standards-based, interoperable security technology for wireless local area networks (the subset of the future IEEE Std 802.11i standard) that encrypts data sent over radio waves.

The WPA protocol was developed to overcome the weaknesses of the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) protocol. Both protocols require the use of network key information, and either protocol can be enabled or disabled, depending on the type of network connection being made.

Various options are available for selecting network authentication and data encryption. It is important for you to understand these options when deciding which (if any) security protocol to use.

Security Example

If you want to use a more secure protocol, the wireless network to which you are connecting must also support that protocol. For example, you decide to enable WPA-PSK on your WPCI810, a good choice because of the robust security WPA-PSK offers. However, the slightly older wireless network you want to connect to only supports WEP, which means that you cannot use WPA (and should use WEP) because the security protocols must match between the network adapter and the access point.

2-2 WPCI810