UTILITY INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION

The security mechanisms that may be employed depend on the level of security required, the network and management resources available, and the software support provided on wireless clients. A summary of wireless security considerations is listed in the following table.

Security

Client

Implementation Considerations

Mechanism

Support

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEP

Built-in support on all

Provides only weak security

 

802.11b and 802.11g

• Requires manual key management

 

devices

 

 

 

 

 

WPA mode

Requires WPA-enabled

• Provides good security in small

 

system and network

 

networks

 

card driver

Requires configured RADIUS server,

 

(native support provided

 

or manual management of pre-shared

 

in Windows XP)

 

key

 

 

 

 

802.1x mode

• Provides robust security in WPA-only

 

Requires WPA-enabled

 

mode (i.e., WPA clients only)

 

• Requires configured RADIUS server

 

system and network

 

card driver

802.1x Extensible Authentication

 

(native support provided

 

Protocol (EAP) type may require

 

 

management of digital certificates for

 

in Windows XP)

 

 

 

clients and server

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SMC Networks SMC2870W manual 802.1x mode