NETGEAR MA111 - Manual (Page 51)

User Manual for the NETGEAR 11 Mbps Wireless USB Adapter MA111
Wireless Networking Basics B-5
202-10032-01
• Shared Key Authentication requires that the station and the access point have the same WEP
Key to authenticate. These two authentication procedures are described below.
Open System Authentication
The following steps occur when two devices use Open System Authentication:
1. The station sends an authentication request to the access point.
2. The access point authenticates the station.
3. The station associates with the access point and joins the network.
This process is illustrated in below.
Figure 4-3: 802.11 open system authentication
Shared Key Authentication
The following steps occur when two devices use Shared Key Authentication:
1. The station sends an authentication request to the access point.
2. The access point sends challenge text to the station.
3. The station uses its configured 64-bit or 128-bit default key to encrypt the challenge text, and
sends the encrypted text to the access point.
4. The access point decrypts the encrypted text using its configured WEP Key that corresponds
to the station’s default key. The access point compares the decrypted text with the original
challenge text. If the decrypted text matches the original challenge text, then the access point
and the station share the same WEP Key and the access point authenticates the station.
5. The station connects to the network.
I N TER N ET LO C A L
ACT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
LNK
LNK/ACT
100 Cable/DSL ProSafe Wireless VPN Security Firewall MODEL FVM318
PWR TEST
W LA N
Enable
Access Point (AP) 1) Authentication request sent to AP
2) AP authenticates
3) Client connects to network
802.11 Authentication
Open System Steps
Cable or
DLS modem Client
attempting
to connect