SMC Networks SMCWPCI-N

DATA ENCRYPTION WITH WEP

The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) security protocol is an encryption method designed to try to

make wireless networks as secure as wired networks. WEP encryption scrambles all data packets

transmitted between the SMCWPCI-N and the access point or other wireless stations to keep

network communications private. Both the wireless stations and the access points must use the

same WEP key for data encryption and decryption.

There are two ways to create WEP keys in your SMCWPCI-N.

• Automatic WEP key generation based on a password phrase called a passphrase. The

passphrase is case sensitive. You must use the same passphrase for all WLAN adapters

with this feature in the same WLAN.

• For WLAN adapters without the passphrase feature, you can still take advantage of this

feature by writing down the four automatically generated WEP keys from the Security

Settings screen of the wireless utility and entering them manually as the WEP keys in the

other WLAN adapter(s).

The SMCWPCI-N allows you to configure up to four WEP keys and only one key is used as the

default transmit key at any one time.