User's Manual

automatically connect when you change locations.
● Security: The 802.11 wireless networks use encryption to help protect
your data. Wired equivalent privacy (WEP) uses a 64- or 128-bit shared
encryption key to scramble data. Before a computer transmits data, it
uses a secret encryption key to scramble the data. The receiving
computer uses this same key to unscramble the data. If you are
connecting to an existing network, use the encryption key provided by
the administrator of the wireless network. If you are setting up your
own network you can make up your own key and use it on each
computer.
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 providing a different approach to
authentication but all employing the same 802.1x protocol and
framework for communication between a client and an access point
Identify a Wireless Network
Depending on the size and components of a wireless network, there are many
ways to identify a wireless network:
● The Network Name or Service Set Identifier (SSID)—Identifies a
wireless network. All wireless devices on the network must use the
same SSID.
● Extended Service Set Identifier (ESSID)—A special case of SSID
used to identify a wireless network that includes access points.
● Independent Basic Service Set Identifier (IBSSID)—A special case
of SSID used to identify a network of wireless computers configured to
communicate directly with one another without using an access point.
● Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID)—A unique identifier for each
wireless device. The BSSID is the Ethernet MAC address of the device.
● Broadcast SSID—An access point can respond to computers sending
probe packets with the broadcast SSID. If this feature is enabled on the
access point, any wireless user can associate with the access point by
using a blank (null) SSID.