User's Manual

only if it passes a challenge-based authentication.
802.1x Authentication
How 802.1x Authentication Works
802.1x Features
Overview
802.1x authentication is independent of the 802.11 authentication
process. The 802.1x standard provides a framework for various
authentication and key-management protocols. There are different
802.1x authentication types, each provides a different approach to
authentication but all employ the same 802.1x protocol and framework
for communication between a client and an access point. In most
protocols, upon the completion of the 802.1x authentication process,
the supplicant receives a key that it uses for data encryption. Refer to
How 802.1x authentication works for more information. With 802.1x
authentication, an authentication method is used between the client
and a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server
connected to the access point. The authentication process uses
credentials, such as a user's password that are not transmitted over the
wireless network. Most 802.1x types support dynamic per-user, per-
session keys to strengthen the static key security. 802.1x benefits from
the use of an existing authentication protocol known as the Extensible
Authentication Protocol (EAP).
802.1x authentication for wireless LANs has three main components:
● The authenticator (the access point)
● The supplicant (the client software)
● The authentication server (a Remote Authentication Dial-In User
Service server [RADIUS])
802.1x authentication security initiates an authorization request from
the wireless client to the access point, which authenticates the client to
an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) compliant RADIUS server.