ZyAIR G-2000 Plus User’s Guide

The following types of RADIUS messages are exchanged between the access point and the RADIUS server for user accounting:

7.9.1.2 Accounting-Request

Sent by the access point requesting accounting.

7.9.1.3 Accounting-Response

Sent by the RADIUS server to indicate that it has started or stopped accounting.

In order to ensure network security, the access point and the RADIUS server use a shared secret key, which is a password, they both know. The key is not sent over the network. In addition to the shared key, password information exchanged is also encrypted to protect the wired network from unauthorized access.

7.9.1.4 EAP Authentication Overview

EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) is an authentication protocol that runs on top of the IEEE802.1x transport mechanism in order to support multiple types of user authentication. By using EAP to interact with an EAP-compatible RADIUS server, the access point helps a wireless station and a RADIUS server perform authentication.

The type of authentication you use depends on the RADIUS server or the AP. The ZyAIR supports EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS and PEAP with RADIUS. Refer to the Types of EAP Authentication appendix for descriptions on the common types.

Your ZyAIR supports PEAP with the Internal RADIUS Server.

The following figure shows an overview of authentication when you specify a RADIUS server on your access point.

Figure 36 EAP Authentication

The details below provide a general description of how IEEE 802.1x EAP authentication works. For an example list of PEAP authentication steps, see the IEEE 802.1x appendix.

1The wireless station sends a “start” message to the ZyAIR.

2The ZyAIR sends a “request identity” message to the wireless station for identity information.

3The wireless station replies with identity information, including username and password.

101

Chapter 7 Wireless Security