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Using the Web-Based Advanced User Interface
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128-Bit WEP
As a result of 64-bit WEP’s potential security weaknesses, a more secure
method of 128-bit encryption was developed. 128-bit encryption includes
a key length of 104 bits plus 24 additional bits of system-generated data (128
bits total). Some hardware manufacturers refer to 128-bit as
104-bit encryption.
Most of the new wireless equipment in the market today supports both
64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption, but you might have older equipment that
only supports 64-bit WEP. All Ativa wireless products will support both 64-bit
and 128-bit WEP.
Encryption Keys
After selecting either the 64-bit or 128-bit WEP encryption mode, it is critical
that you generate an encryption key. If the encryption key is not consistent
throughout the entire wireless network, your wireless networking devices will be
unable to communicate with one another on your network and you will not be
able to successfully communicate within your network.
You can enter your key by typing in the hex key manually, or you can type in
a passphrase in the “Passphrase” field and click “Generate” to create a key. A
hex (hexadecimal) key is a combination of numbers and letters from A–F and
0–9. For 64-bit WEP, you must enter 10 hex keys. For 128-bit WEP, you must
enter 26 hex keys.
For instance:
AF 0F 4B C3 D4 = 64-bit WEP key
C3 03 0F AF 0F 4B B2 C3 D4 4B C3 D4 E7 = 128-bit WEP key
The WEP passphrase is NOT the same as a WEP key. Your Router uses this
passphrase to generate your WEP keys, but different hardware manufacturers
might have different methods on generating the keys. If you have multiple
vendors’ equipment in your network, the easiest thing to do is to use the hex
WEP key from your Router or access point and enter it manually into the hex
WEP key table in your Router’s configuration screen.