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N+ Wireless USB Adapter
SECTION 4
USING THE BELKIN WIRELESS NETWORKING UTILITY
Name 64-bit Wired
Equivalent
Privacy
128-bit
Encryption
Wi-Fi
Protected
Access
Wi-Fi
Protected
Access
Acronym 64-bit WEP 128-bit WEP WPA-TKIP/AES
(or just WPA)
WPA2-AES
(or just WPA2)
Security Good Better Best Best
Features Static keys Static keys Dynamic key
encryption
and mutual
authentication
Dynamic key
encryption
and mutual
authentication
Encryption
keys based
on RC4
algorithm
(typically
40-bit keys)
Added
security over
64-bit WEP
using a key
length of 104
bits, plus 24
additional
bits of
system-
generated
data
TKIP
(temporal
key integrity
protocol)
added so
that keys are
rotated and
encryption is
strengthened
AES
(Advanced
Encryption
Standard)
does not
cause any
throughput
loss
At the time of publication, four encryption methods are available:
Encryption Methods:
WEP
WEP is a common protocol that adds security to all Wi-Fi-compliant
wireless products. WEP gives wireless networks the equivalent level of
privacy protection as a comparable wired network.
64-BitWEP
64-bit WEP was first introduced with 64-bit encryption, which includes
a key length of 40 bits plus 24 additional bits of system-generated data
(64 bits total). Some hardware manufacturers refer to 64-bit as 40-bit
encryption. Shortly after the technology was introduced, researchers
found that 64-bit encryption was too easy to decode.
128-BitEncryption
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 WEP and 128-bit WEP encryption,
but you might have older equipment that only supports 64-bit WEP.
All Belkin wireless products will support both 64-bit WEP and 128-bit
encryption.