Motorola AP-51XX User Manual

Page 224

AP-51xx Access Point Product Reference Guide

6-6

Encryption applies a specific algorithm to alter its appearance and prevent unauthorized reading.
Decryption applies the algorithm in reverse to restore the data to its original form. Sender and
receiver must employ the same encryption/decryption method to interoperate.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is available in two encryption modes: 40 bit (also called WEP 64) and
104 bit (also called WEP 128). The 104-bit encryption mode provides a longer algorithm (better
security) that takes longer to decode (hack) than the 40-bit encryption mode.

Each WLAN (16 WLANs available in total to an access point regardless of the model) can have a
separate security policy. However, more than one WLAN can use the same security policy. Therefore,
to avoid confusion, do not name security policies the same name as WLANs. Once security policies
have been created, they are selectable within the

Security

field of each

WLAN

screen. If the

existing default security policy does not satisfy the data protection requirements of a specific WLAN,
a new security policy (using the authentication and encryption schemes discussed above) can be
created.

To enable an existing WLAN security policy or create a new policy:

Select

Network Configuration

Wireless

Security

from the access point menu tree.

The

Security Configuration

screen displays

If a new security policy is required, click the

Create

button.

The

New Security Policy

screen displays with the

Manually Pre-shared key/No

authentication

and

No Encryption

options selected. Naming and saving such a policy (as

is) would provide no security and might only make sense in a guest network wherein no
sensitive data is either transmitted or received.

However, selecting any other authetnication or encryption checkbox displays a configuration
field for the selected security scheme within the

New

Security Policy

screen.

Use the

Name

field to define a logical security policy name.

Remember, multiple WLANs can share the same security policy, so be careful not to name
security policies after specific WLANs or risk defining a WLAN to single policy. Motorola
recommends naming the policy after the attributes of the authentication or encryption type
selected (for example, WPA2 Allow TKIP).

NOTE

An existing security policy can be edited from the Security Configuration
screen by selecting an existing policy and clicking the

Edit

button. Use the

Edit Security Policy

screen to edit the policy. For more information on

editing an existing security policy, refer to security configuration sections
described in steps 4 and 5.