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ZyXEL G-220F User’s Guide
27 Chapter 2 Wireless LAN Network
Configure the wireless LAN security using the Configuration or the Profile Security
Settings screen. If you do not enable any wireless security on your ZyXEL G-220F, the
ZyXEL G-220F’s wireless communications are accessible to any wireless networking device
that is in the coverage area.
2.2.1 Data Encryption with WEP
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption scrambles all data packets transmitted between
the ZyXEL G-220F and the AP or other wireless stations to keep network communications
private. Both the wireless stations and the access points must use the same WEP key for data
encryption and decryption.
There are two ways to create WEP keys in your ZyXEL G-220F.
• Automatic WEP key generation based on a “password phrase” called a passphrase. The
passphrase is case sensitive. You must use the same passphrase for all WLAN adapters
with this feature in the same WLAN.
For WLAN adapters without the passphrase feature, you can still take advantage of this
feature by writing down the four automatically generated WEP keys from the Security
Settings screen of the ZyXEL Utility and entering them manually as the WEP keys in the
other WLAN adapter(s).
• Enter the WEP keys manually.
Your ZyXEL G-220F allows you to configure up to four 64-bit, 128-bit or 256-bit WEP
keys and only one key is used as the default key at any one time.
2.2.2 IEEE 802.1x
The IEEE 802.1x standard outlines enhanced security methods for both the authentication of
wireless stations and encryption key management. Authentication can be done using an
external RADIUS server.
2.2.2.1 EAP Authentication
EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) is an authentication protocol that runs on top of the
IEEE 802.1x transport mechanism in order to support multiple types of user authentication. By
using EAP to interact with an EAP-compatible RADIUS server, an access point helps a
wireless station and a RADIUS server perform authentication.
The type of authentication you use depends on the RADIUS server and an intermediary AP(s)
that supports IEEE 802.1x. The ZyXEL G-220F supports EAP-TLS and EAP-PEAP. Refer to
Appendix E on page 86 for descriptions.
For EAP-TLS authentication type, you must first have a wired connection to the network and
obtain the certificate(s) from a certificate authority (CA). A certificate (also called digital IDs)
can be used to authenticate users and a CA issues certificates and guarantees the identity of
each certificate owner.