User guide

Odyssey Access Client User Guide
98  802.11 Wireless Networking
See the following topics:
 “Specifying an Association Mode” on page 60 for directions for selecting an
association mode in Odyssey Access Clientfor directions on selecting a
connection mode (infrastructure or ad-hoc).
 “Encryption Methods for an Association Mode” on page 61 for directions for
selecting WEP encryption when using the shared or open association mode.
 “Preconfigured Keys (WEP)” on page 78 to use static WEP keys with Odyssey
Access Client.
Wi-Fi Protected Access and its Encryption Methods
As an enhancement to the 802.11 wireless standard, the Wi-Fi Protected Access
(WPA) and the stronger Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) association modes
encompass a number of security enhancements to Wired-Equivalent Privacy. These
enhancements include the following:
 Improved data encryption with the TKIP algorithm. TKIP provides stronger
encryption than WEP.
 Improved data encryption with the AES algorithm. AES provides stronger
encryption than WEP or TKIP.
 WPA and WPA2 can generate TKIP or AES encryption keys from a preshared
passphrase. Although your passphrase might be simple, these encryption
methods can generate cryptographically strong encryption keys from a simple
passphrase. Consequently, these encryption methods are stronger than WEP
encryption based on preconfigured WEP keys. If you configure a passphrase for
key generation for your access points, you cannot use 802.1X-based
authentication and you must configure the same passphrase in Odyssey Access
Client.
When the access points in your network require that you associate via WPA or
WPA2, you can configure Odyssey Access Client to associate in that mode. If the
access points are configured for TKIP or AES encryption, you can configure
Odyssey Access Client for either of these enhanced data encryption methods. You
should configure your access points and clients for network connections that use
the strongest association and encryption methods that are supported by your
network access points.
NOTE: You can use preconfigured keys for WEP data encryption in peer-to-peer
network connections. In this case, all clients in the peer-to-peer network must
share the same WEP keys.
NOTE: With access points enabled for WPA2 or WPA, you can obtain the stronger
network security when you use dynamic encryption key generation and
802.1X-based authentication. See “802.1X Authentication” on page 99 and
“Extensible Authentication Protocol” on page 100 for more information.