System information
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there are not channels without activity, the one with the lowest activity is
selected (or random if lowest activity is equal). When this feature is
enabled, the W3x terminals will select the best channel upon every restart.
8.4 Wireless Security
Authentication and data encryption are used to restrict access to the
wireless network. Which authentication and encryption method that should
be used depends on what is supported by the connecting wireless
device(s).
Wireless security can be configured to be either “open” (no authentication
or encryption) or “closed” (meaning WEP-64, WEP-128, WPA, WPA2 or
WPA/WPA2 Mixed security). WPA/WPA2 Mixed security mode enables
connection of both WPA and WPA2 clients. See below for security details.
8.4.1 WEP
WEP enables wireless security using 64-bit or 128-bit data encryption.
WEP encryption requires a private network key. Each device in the wireless
network has to be manually configured with this key.
8.4.2 WPA / WPA2
WPA is a 256-bit data encryption method with keys that dynamically
change over time. WPA and its successor WPA 2 are considered to be the
most reliable security options.
For user authentication WPA/WPA2 runs a special, easy-to-set-up home
mode called Pre-Shared Key (PSK) where keys and passphrases are
manually entered.
WPA encryption uses the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) while
WPA2 encryption follows the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
8.4.3 Whitelist
A common method of restricting WLAN network access is to specify the
MAC address(es) in a so called “whitelist” for those computers to be
granted access to the WLAN. This kind of whitelist is also known as “MAC
Association” or “MAC Access list”.
Up to 20 MAC addresses for wireless clients can be added to the whitelist.
Once the whitelist has been enabled, only clients with an associated MAC
address are allowed to connect.
This feature does not require any configuration of the clients but on the
other hand it does not encrypt the traffic like WEP/WPA.