User Manual Part 3

AP-51xx Access Point Product Reference Guide
5-18
4. Click Apply to save any changes to the WAN screen. Navigating away from the screen
without clicking the Apply button results in all changes to the screen being lost.
5. Click Undo Changes (if necessary) to undo any changes made. Undo Changes reverts the
settings displayed on the WAN screen to the last saved configuration.
Keep-Alive Select the Keep-Alive checkbox to maintain the access point
WAN connection indefinitely (no timeout interval). Some ISPs
terminate inactive connections. Enabling Keep-Alive keeps the
access point WAN connection active, even when there is no
traffic. If the ISP drops the connection after an idle period, the
access point automatically re-establishes the connection to the
ISP. Enabling Keep-Alive mode disables (grays out) the Idle Time
field.
Idle Time (seconds) Specify an idle time in seconds to limit how long the
access
point
’s WAN connection remains active after outbound and
inbound traffic is not detected. The Idle Time field is grayed out if
Keep-Alive is enabled.
Authentication Type Use the Authentication Type menu to specify the authentication
protocol(s) for the WAN connection. Choices include None, PAP or
CHAP, PAP, or CHAP.
Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) and Challenge Handshake
Authentication Protocol (CHAP) are competing identify-verification
methods.
PAP sends a username and password over a network to a server
that compares the username and password to a table of authorized
users. If the username and password are matched in the table,
server access is authorized. WatchGuard products do not support
the PAP protocol because the username and password are sent as
clear text that a hacker can read.
CHAP uses secret information and mathematical algorithms to
send a derived numeric value for login. The login server knows the
secret information and performs the same mathematical
operations to derive a numeric value. If the results match, server
access is authorized. After login, one of the numbers in the
mathematical operation is changed to secure the connection. This
prevents any intruder from trying to copy a valid authentication
session and replaying it later to log in.