User's Manual

10
D ATA E NCRYPTION WITH WEP
The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) security protocol is an encryption method designed to try
to make wireless networks as secure as wired networks. WEP encryption scrambles all data
packets transmitted between the adapter and the access point or other wireless stations to
keep network communications private. Both the wireless stations and the access points must
use the same WEP key for data encryption and decryption.
There are two ways to create WEP keys in your adapter.
• Automatic WEP key generation based on a password phrase called a passphrase.
The passphrase is case sensitive. You must use the same passphrase for all WLAN
adapters with this feature in the same WLAN.
• For WLAN adapters without the passphrase feature, you can still take advantage of
this feature by writing down the four automatically generated WEP keys from the
Security Settings screen of the wireless utility and entering them manually as the WEP
keys in the other WLAN adapter(s).
The adapter allows you to configure up to four WEP keys and only one key is used as the
default transmit key at any one time.
T HE adapter SUPPORTS UP TO FOUR 64- BIT , 128- BIT , AND 152- BIT WEP KEYS. T HE 152- BIT
WEP MUST COMPLY WITH THE WEP SETTING OF YOUR ACCESS POINT OR ROUTER.
D O NOT ATTEMPT TO CONFIGURE OR CHANGE SECURITY SETTTINGS FOR A
NETWORK WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION AND WITHOUT CLEARLY UNDERSTANDING
THE SETTINGS YOU ARE APPLING. W ITH POOR SECURITY SETTINGS, SENSITIVE
DATA YOU SEND CAN BE SEEN BY OTHERS.