User's Manual Part 1

The encryption method for an access point is 40(64)-bit. The method for a wireless client is
104(128)-bit encryption. The client and access point cannot communicate with each other,
even though the selected key is the same. To resolve this problem, set the access point to use
104(128)-bit encryption.
Example 2
The encryption method is the same for the access point and wireless client. You select key 1 for
the access point and key 2 for the wireless client. The wireless client cannot communicate with
the WLAN. To resolve this problem, select key 1 for the wireless client.
NOTE:
Use the same key and encryption method for the wireless devices in the WLAN.
Otherwise, they cannot communicate with each other.
The Dell Wireless 4350 Small Network Access Point uses either hexadecimal digits or ASCII
characters to create encryption keys. Hexadecimal digits include the numbers 0 to 9 and the
letters A to F. For example, the decimal number 15 is represented as F in the hexadecimal
numbering system.
ASCII is the acronym for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
Pronounced ask-ee, ASCII is a code for representing English characters as numbers, with each
letter assigned a number from 0 to 127. For example, the ASCII code for uppercase M is 77.
Most computers use ASCII codes to represent text, which makes it possible to transfer data
from one computer to another.
WPA
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) is an upgrade to the WEP standard for securing your wireless
network. WPA is derived from and will be forward-compatible with the future IEEE 802.11i
standard. It provides improved data encryption and user authentication.
To enhance the level of security, WPA uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP)
encryption to address the vulnerabilities of the static keys used in WEP. TKIP includes four
algorithms: message integrity check (MIC), to protect packets from tampering; Per-Packet
Key (PPK) hashing, to prevent weak key attacks; extended initialization vector (IV), to reduce
IV reuse and the possibility that a hacker will collect sufficient packets to crack the encryption;
and a re-keying mechanism, to change the temporal key dynamically. TKIP is the most
commonly used encryption method; however, if your wireless clients do not support TKIP, the
Wireless 4350 also supports Advanced Encryption Security (AES) encryption. AES will