Netgear JWNR2000 [31/108] Wireless security options

Chapter 3. Wireless Settings | 31

NETGEAR N300 Wireless Router JWNR2000v2 User Manual

Wireless Security Options

A security option is the type of security protocol applied to your wireless network. The

security protocol in force encrypts data transmissions and ensures that only trusted devices

receive authorization to connect to your network. There are two types of encryption: Wired

Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). WPA is stronger, and

therefore, recommended over WEP. WPA has several options including pre-shared key

(PSK) encryption.

This section presents an overview of the security options and provides guidance on when to

use which option. Note that it is also possible to disable wireless security. NETGEAR does

not recommend this.

WPA Encryption

WPA encryption is built into all hardware that has the Wi-Fi-certified seal. This seal means

the product is authorized by the Wi-Fi Alliance (http://www.wi-fi.org/) because it complies with

the worldwide single standard for high-speed wireless local area networking.

• WPA2-PSK is the strongest. It is advertised to be theoretically indecipherable due to the

greater degree of randomness in encryption keys that it generates. WPA2-PSK gets

higher speed because it is usually implemented through hardware, while WP

A-PSK is

usually implemented through software. WPA2-PSK uses a passphrase to authenticate

and generate the initial data encryption keys. Then it dynamically varies the encryption

key.

• WPS-PSK + WPA2-PSK Mixed Mode provides broader support for all wireless clients.

WPA2-PSK clients get higher speed and security, and WPA-PSK clients get decent

speed and security. The product documentation for your wireless adapter and WPA client

software should have instructions about configuring their WPA settings.

WPA-PSK uses a passphrase to perform the authentication and generate the initial data

encryption keys. Then it dynamically varies the encryption key. WPA-PSK uses Temporal

Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) data encryption, implements most of the IEEE 802.11i

standard, and is designed to work with all wireless network interface cards, but not all

wireless access points. It is superseded by WPA2-PSK.

WEP Encryption

WEP uses an old encryption method and can be easily decoded with today's powerful

computers. Use this mode only when you have a very old legacy wireless client that does not

support WPA-PSK. WEP is only available with certain Mode settings. The Wi-Fi alliance

highly recommends against using WEP and plans to make it obsolete.