Netcom NB9 - Manual (Page 32)

NB9/NB9W ADSL+ VoIP Router
YML790 Rev8
Wireless Security in Detail
The following provides a detailed summary of wireless terms and acronyms and more in-depth explanations
of the topic. It assumes little prior knowledge of wireless networking and is aimed at providing background
for the terminology used in the NB9W Wireless Security screens.
Warning: Wireless Networking is a technically challenging subject!
Authentication and Encryption
The two major aims of wireless network security are:
(1) to prevent unauthorised persons from joining the network and
(2) to prevent interception of network data or ‘eavesdropping’. These aims are accomplished by:
• Authentication: establishes the identity of those seeking to join the network
• Encryption: ensures that data is protected in such a way that those outside the network cannot
access it.
Network Keys
The term ‘network key’ is often used in the context of wireless networking. The Network Key can be a text
string, although in some systems network keys are generated from a ‘pass-phrase’ which is entered in one
field from which up to four keys are derived in fields underneath the entry field.
In all cases, the Wireless Router/Access Point and the workstations wishing to connect must use the same
Network Key which needs to be communicated to clients prior to connection.
‘Re-keying’ refers to the frequency with which network keys are changed; for security purposes, they need to
be changed frequently in case they re-occur frequently enough to identify them.
In some wireless systems, network keys are entered by a variety of means including:
• ASCII – any letter, number, or punctuation mark but no special characters
• Hex – Letters A-F, Numbers 0-9 only
• Pass phrase – enter a phrase in the top field of a set of fields, an algorithm then generates a series of
keys based on the entered values.
These methods have been standardised in the later implementations of Wireless Security and are easier to
use in WPA.