Belkin F5D8055tt User Manual

Page 30

table of contents

N+ Wireless USB Adapter

section

USING THe BelKIN WIreleSS NeTWorKING UTIlITY

Name

64-bit Wired
Equivalent
Privacy

128-bit
Encryption

Wi-Fi
Protected
Access

Acronym 64-bit WEP

128-bit WEP

WPA-TKIP/AES
(or just WPA)

WPA2-AES
(or just WPA2)

Security

Good

Better

Best

Features

Static keys

Dynamic key
encryption
and mutual
authentication

Encryption
keys based
on RC4
algorithm
(typically
40-bit keys)

Added
security over
64-bit WEP
using a key
length of 104
bits, plus 24
additional
bits of
system-
generated
data

TKIP
(temporal
key integrity
protocol)
added so
that keys are
rotated and
encryption is
strengthened

AES
(Advanced
Encryption
Standard)
does not
cause any
throughput
loss

At the time of publication, four encryption methods are available:
encryption Methods:

WeP
WeP is a common protocol that adds security to all Wi-Fi-compliant

wireless products. WEP gives wireless networks the equivalent level of

privacy protection as a comparable wired network.

64-Bit WEP
64-bit WEP was first introduced with 64-bit encryption, which includes

a key length of 40 bits plus 24 additional bits of system-generated data

(64 bits total). Some hardware manufacturers refer to 64-bit as 40-bit

encryption. Shortly after the technology was introduced, researchers

found that 64-bit encryption was too easy to decode.

128-Bit Encryption
As a result of 64-bit WEP’s potential security weaknesses, a more

secure method of 128-bit encryption was developed. 128-bit encryption

includes a key length of 104 bits plus 24 additional bits of system-

generated data (128 bits total). Some hardware manufacturers refer to

128-bit as 104-bit encryption. Most of the new wireless equipment in the

market today supports both 64-bit WEP and 128-bit WEP encryption,

but you might have older equipment that only supports 64-bit WEP.

All Belkin wireless products will support both 64-bit WEP and 128-bit

encryption.