User's Manual

te m pora ry conne ction, or cre a te a n e w profile for tha t n e twork.
Afte r you cre a te profile s , your com pute r will a utom a tica lly
conn e ct whe n you cha nge loca tions.
● S e c u rit y : Th e 802 .11 wire le s s ne tworks use e n cryption to he lp
prote ct you r da ta . Wire d e quiva le nt priva cy (WEP) use s a 64- or
128 -bit s h a re d e n cryption ke y to scra m ble da ta . Be fore a
com pute r tra nsm its da ta , it use s a s e cre t e ncryption ke y to
scra m ble the da ta . The re ce iving com pute r use s this sa m e ke y to
unscra m ble the da ta . If you a re con ne cting to a n e xisting
ne twork, u s e th e e ncryption ke y provide d by th e a dm inistra tor of
th e wire le s s ne twork. If you a re se tting up you r own ne twork you
ca n m a ke up your own ke y a nd use it on e a ch com pute r.
802 .1x a uthe ntica tion is indepe nde nt of the 8 02.11
a uthe ntica tion proce ss. The 8 0 2.1x s ta nda rd provide s a
fra m e work for va rious a u the ntica tion a n d ke y-m a n a ge m e nt
protocols . The re a re diffe re nt 8 02 .1x a uthe n tica tion type s, e a ch
providing a diffe re nt a pproa ch to a u the ntica tion but a ll e m ployin g
th e sa m e 8 0 2.1x protocol a nd fra m e work for com m unica tion
be twe e n a clie n t a nd a n a cce ss point
I d e n t ify a W ire le s s N e t w o rk
De pe n ding on th e s ize a n d com pon e nts of a wire le s s n e twork, the re
a re m a ny wa ys to ide ntify a wire le ss ne twork:
● Th e N e t w o rk N a m e o r S e rv ic e S e t I d e n t ifie r
( S S I D) —Ide n tifie s a wire le s s ne twork. All wire le s s de vice s on th e
ne twork m ust use the s a m e SSID.
● Ex t e n d e d S e rv ic e S e t I d e n t ifie r ( ES S I D ) —A s pe cia l ca se of
SSID use d to iden tify a wire le ss ne twork tha t in clu de s a cce ss
points .
● I n d e p e n d e n t Ba s ic S e rv ic e S e t I d e n t ifie r ( I BS S I D) —A
spe cia l ca se of SSID u se d to ide ntify a n e twork of wire le s s
com pute rs configure d to com m unica te dire ctly with one a nothe r
withou t u sing a n a cce ss point.
● Ba s ic S e rv ic e S e t I d e n t ifie r ( BS S I D ) —A u n ique ide ntifie r for
e a ch wire le ss de vice . The BSSID is the Ethe rne t MAC a ddre s s of
th e de vice .
● Bro a d c a s t S S I D —An a cce ss point ca n re spond to com pute rs