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Chapter 3 - wireless lan reference – Asus B and W PCI CARD User Manual

Page 37

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ASUS SpaceLink B&W PCI Card

Chapter 3 - Wireless LAN Reference

Chapter 3

Click Apply to save and activate the new configurations.

Two ways to assign Shared Keys

Manual Assignment - When you click this button, the cursor appears in the
field for Key 1. To enable WEP encryption, you are required to enter at least
one shared key. For 64-bit encryption, each Key contains exactly 10 hex digits
(0~9, a~f, and A~F). For 128-bit encryption, each Key contains exactly 26 hex
digits (0~9, a~f, and A~F). For 152-bit encryption, each Key contains exactly
32 hex digits (0~9, a~f, and A~F).

Automatic Generation - Type a combination of up to 64 letters, numbers, or
symbols in the Passphrase column, then the Wireless Settings Utility uses an
algorithm to generate four shared Keys for encryption.

NOTE: This function ease users from having to remember their
passwords and is compatible to some existing WLAN utilities, but
it is not very secure. "Manual Assignment" is more secure.

64/128bits versus 40/104bits

You may be confused about configuring WEP encryption, especially when
using multiple wireless LAN products from different vendors. There are
two levels of WEP Encryption: 64 bits and 128 bits.

First, 64 bit WEP and 40 bit WEP are the same encryption method and can
interoperate in the wireless network. This lower level of WEP encryption
uses a 40 bit (10 Hex character) as a “secret key” (set by user), and a 24 bit
“Initialization Vector” (not under user control). This together makes 64
bits (40 + 24). Some vendors refer to this level of WEP as 40 bits and
others refer to this as 64 bits. ASUS SpaceLink products use the term 64
bits when referring to this lower level of encryption.

Second, 104 bit WEP and 128 bit WEP are the same encryption method
and can interoperate in the wireless network. This higher level of WEP
encryption uses a 104 bit (26 Hex character) as a “secret key” (set by user),
and a 24 bit “Initialization Vector” (not under user control). This together
makes 128 bits (104 + 24). Some vendors refer to this level of WEP as 104
bits and others refer to this as 128 bits. ASUS SpaceLink products use the
term 128 bits when referring to this higher level of encryption.