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Setting up your wireless network adapter
Currently, there are four encryption methods available:
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.
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. You can enter your key by typing in the hex key manually, or
you can type a passphrase into 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 need to enter 10 hex characters. For 128-bit WEP, you need to enter 26 hex
characters.
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 network adapter 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 wireless router (or
access point) and enter it manually into the hex WEP key table in your network adapter’s
configuration screen.
64-Bit Wired
Equivalent
Privacy
128-Bit Wired
Equivalent
Privacy
Wi-Fi Protected
Access-TKIP
Wi-Fi Protected
Access 2
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)
More secure than
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