ZyXEL Communications HS100/HS100W manual Introduction to Radius

HomeSafe User’s Guide

	Table 7-10 WLAN : Local User Database
LABEL	DESCRIPTION
User Name	Enter the username (up to 31 characters) for this user profile.
Password	Type a password (up to 31 characters) for this user profile. Note that as you type a
	password, the screen displays a (*) for each character you type.
Apply	Click Apply to save your changes back to the HomeSafe.
Reset	Click Reset to reload the previous configuration for this screen.

7.17 Introduction to RADIUS

RADIUS is based on a client-sever model that supports authentication and accounting, where access point is the client and the server is the RADIUS server. The RADIUS server handles the following tasks among others:

•Authentication

Determines the identity of the users.

•Accounting

Keeps track of the client’s network activity.

RADIUS user is a simple package exchange in which your HomeSafe acts as a message relay between the wireless station and the network RADIUS server.

Types of RADIUS Messages

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

•Access-Request

Sent by an access point requesting authentication.

•Access-Reject

Sent by a RADIUS server rejecting access.

•Access-Accept

Sent by a RADIUS server allowing access.

•Access-Challenge

Sent by a RADIUS server requesting more information in order to allow access. The access point sends a proper response from the user and then sends another Access- Request message.

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

•Accounting-Request

Sent by the access point requesting accounting.

•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.

7-20 Wireless Security