Prestige 334W User’s Guide

8.7Wireless Client WPA Supplicants

A wireless client supplicant is the software that runs on an operating system instructing the wireless client how to use WPA. At the time of writing, the most widely available supplicants are the WPA patch for Windows XP, Funk Software's Odyssey client, and Meetinghouse Data Communications' AEGIS client.

The AEGIS client is bundled free (at the time of writing) with the Prestige client adaptor(s). The XP patch is a free download that adds WPA capability to Windows XP's built-in "Zero Configuration" wireless client. However, you must run Windows XP to use it. Funk's client runs supports a wider variety of authentication protocols than the Windows XP patch, but you need to buy it.

8.7.1 WPA with RADIUS Application Example

You need the IP address of the RADIUS server, its port number (default is 1812), and the RADIUS shared secret. A WPA application example with an external RADIUS server looks as follows. “A” is the RADIUS server. “DS” is the distribution system.

Step 1. The AP passes the wireless client’s authentication request to the RADIUS server.

Step 2. The RADIUS server then checks the user's identification against its database and grants or denies network access accordingly.

Step 3. The RADIUS server distributes a Pairwise Master Key (PMK) key to the AP that then sets up a key hierarchy and management system, using the pair-wise key to dynamically generate unique data encryption keys to encrypt every data packet that is wirelessly communicated between the AP and the wireless clients.

Wireless Security

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