Netgear HE102 User Manual download pdf (Page 9)

A wireless LAN consisting of nodes operating in ad-hoc configuration without

an access point is called a Basic Service Set (BSS). All nodes in a BSS must use

the same Basic Service Set ID (BSSID).

In an infrastructure configuration with access points, multiple BSS can be

configured to form an Extended Service Set (ESS). In this configuration, the

access points are configured with the same Extended Service Set ID (ESSID).

Wireless clients configured with the same ESSID can freely roam from one

access point domain to another and still maintain seamless connection to the

network

Authentication and WEP Encryption

The absence of a physical connection between nodes makes the wireless links

vulnerable to information theft. To provide a certain level of security, IEEE

802.11 standard has defined two types of authentication methods, Open System

and Shared Key. Open System authentication is a null algorithm. Shared Key

authentication is an algorithm where both the transmitting node and the

receiving node share an authentication key to perform a checksum on the

original message. By default, IEEE 802.11 wireless devices operate in an open

system network.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption is utilized when the wireless

nodes or access points are configured to operate in Shared Key authentication

mode. There are three shared key methods implemented in NETGEAR’s

802.11a solutions: the standard based 40-bit WEP data encryption and 128-bit

WEP data encryption plus the extended 152-bit WEP data encryption.

The forty-bit WEP data encryption method allows for a five-character (forty-bit)

input. Additionally, 24 factory-set bits are added to the forty-bit input to

generate a 64-bit encryption key. (The 24 factory-set bits are not user

configurable.) This encryption key will be used to encrypt/decrypt all data

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Netgear HE102 User Manual Page 9