User Guide

Configuring 802.1x Security 117
CHAPTER 11
Configuring 802.1x Security
The main aim of this document is to help the user configure
802.1x through web interface. This document includes a
description of the steps, examples and any common problems
the user needs to watch out for while configuring 802.1x on the
Alcatel Mobility Controllers.
802.1x is an IEEE standard designed to provide authentication
before L2 access to the network is permitted. The authentication
protocols that operate inside the 802.1x framework suitable for
wireless networks include EAP-TLS, PEAP and TTLS. These
protocols allow the network to authenticate the client while also
allowing the client to authenticate the network. These
authentication protocols are all based on EAP (Extensible
Authentication Protocol) and are also referred to as EAP types.
The 802.1x system consists of three parts. The supplicant, or
client, is the device attempting to gain access to the network. The
authenticator is the gatekeeper to the network and permits or
denies access to the supplicants. Finally, the authentication
server provides a database of information required for
authentication and informs the authenticator with information to
deny or permit access to the supplicant.
The Alcatel Mobility Controller acts as the authenticator, relaying
information between the authentication server and supplicant.
The EAP type or authentication protocols are transparent to the
switch and have to be consistent between the authentication
server and supplication or client.