User's Manual

Configurable SettingsAppendix —A
385700 Series Color Mobile Computer User’s Manual
Wireless Network C ontrol Panel Applet
Note: See Chapter 4, “Network Support,” for information about the
802.11b radio module.
About the Wireless Network
Your wireless adapter (network interface card) connects to wireless net-
works of two types: access point networks and peer-to-peer networks.
S Access point networks get you onto your corporate network and the in-
ternet. Your 700 Series Computer establishes a wireless connection to
an access point, which links you to the rest of the network. When you
connect to a network via an access point, you are using the 802.1x infra-
structure mode.
S Peer-to-peer networks are private networks shared between two or more
people, even with no access point.
Each wireless network is assigned a name (or Service Set Identifier - SSID)
to allow multiple networks to coexist in the same area without infringe-
ment.
With multiple networks within range of each other, security is a necessity,
to avoid outside eavesdropping. To make a network safe, the following are
required:
S Authentication by both the network and the user
S Authentication is cryptographically protected
S Wireless connection is encrypted
There are two basic mechanisms for providing secure encryption over a
wireless network: preconfigured secrets called WEP keys and authentica-
tion using the 802.1x protocol.
Terminology
Below are terms you may encounter as you configure your wireless net-
work:
S CKIP (Cisco Key Integrity Protocol)
This is a light version of the TKIP protocol developed by Cisco.
S EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol)
802.1x u ses this protocol to perform authentication. This is not neces-
sarily an authentication mechanism, but is a common framework for
transporting actual authentication protocols. Intermec Technologies
provides a number of EAP protocols for you to choose the best for your
network.