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Reference Manual for the NETGEAR ProSafe Wireless Access Point 802.11g WG302

2.The access point authenticates the station.

3.The station associates with the access point and joins the network.

This process is illustrated below.

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Figure B-1: Open system authentication

Shared Key Authentication

The following steps occur when two devices use Shared Key Authentication:

1.The station sends an authentication request to the access point.

2.The access point sends challenge text to the station.

3.The station uses its configured 64-bit or 128-bit default key to encrypt the challenge text, and sends the encrypted text to the access point.

4.The access point decrypts the encrypted text using its configured WEP Key that corresponds to the station’s default key. The access point compares the decrypted text with the original challenge text. If the decrypted text matches the original challenge text, then the access point and the station share the same WEP Key and the access point authenticates the station.

5.The station connects to the network.

If the decrypted text does not match the original challenge text (the access point and station do not share the same WEP Key), then the access point will refuse to authenticate the station and the station will be unable to communicate with either the 802.11 network or Ethernet network.

This process is illustrated below.

B-4 Wireless Networking Basics

September 2004