17 introduction to radius – ZyXEL Communications Parental Control Gateway HS100/HS100W User Manual
Page 113

HomeSafe User’s Guide
7-20
Wireless Security
Table 7-10 WLAN : Local User Database
LABEL DESCRIPTION
User Name
Enter the username (up to 31 characters) for this user profile.
Password
Type a password (up to 31 characters) for this user profile. Note that as you type a
password, the screen displays a (*) for each character you type.
Apply
Click Apply to save your changes back to the HomeSafe.
Reset
Click Reset to reload the previous configuration for this screen.
7.17 Introduction to RADIUS
RADIUS is based on a client-sever model that supports authentication and accounting, where
access point is the client and the server is the RADIUS server. The RADIUS server handles the
following tasks among others:
•
Authentication
Determines the identity of the users.
•
Accounting
Keeps track of the client’s network activity.
RADIUS user is a simple package exchange in which your HomeSafe acts as a message relay
between the wireless station and the network RADIUS server.
Types of RADIUS Messages
The following types of RADIUS messages are exchanged between the access point and the
RADIUS server for user authentication:
•
Access-Request
Sent by an access point requesting authentication.
•
Access-Reject
Sent by a RADIUS server rejecting access.
•
Access-Accept
Sent by a RADIUS server allowing access.
•
Access-Challenge
Sent by a RADIUS server requesting more information in order to allow access. The
access point sends a proper response from the user and then sends another Access-
Request message.
The following types of RADIUS messages are exchanged between the access point and the
RADIUS server for user accounting:
•
Accounting-Request
Sent by the access point requesting accounting.
•
Accounting-Response
Sent by the RADIUS server to indicate that it has started or stopped accounting.
In order to ensure network security, the access point and the RADIUS server use a shared secret
key, which is a password, they both know. The key is not sent over the network. In addition to the
shared key, password information exchanged is also encrypted to protect the wired network from
unauthorized access.