ZyXEL Communications P320W 802.11g Wireless Firewall Router User Manual ZyBook
ZyXEL Communications Corporation 802.11g Wireless Firewall Router ZyBook
Contents
- 1. Users Manual 1
- 2. Users Manual 2
- 3. Users Manual 3
- 4. Users Manual 4
- 5. Users Manual 5
Users Manual 5
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Appendix C Setting up Your Computer’s IP Address 181
Figure 119 Windows XP: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties
8Click OK to close the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties window.
9Click Close (OK in Windows 2000/NT) to close the Local Area Connection Properties
window.
10 Close the Network Connections window (Network and Dial-up Connections in
Windows 2000/NT).
11Turn on your Prestige and restart your computer (if prompted).
Verifying Settings
1Click Start, All Programs, Accessories and then Command Prompt.
2In the Command Prompt window, type "ipconfig" and then press [ENTER]. You can
also open Network Connections, right-click a network connection, click Status and then
click the Support tab.
Macintosh OS 8/9
1Click the Apple menu, Control Panel and double-click TCP/IP to open the TCP/IP
Control Panel.
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182 Appendix C Setting up Your Computer’s IP Address
Figure 120 Macintosh OS 8/9: Apple Menu
2Select Ethernet built-in from the Connect via list.
Figure 121 Macintosh OS 8/9: TCP/IP
3For dynamically assigned settings, select Using DHCP Server from the Configure: list.
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Appendix C Setting up Your Computer’s IP Address 183
4For statically assigned settings, do the following:
•From the Configure box, select Manually.
• Type your IP address in the IP Address box.
• Type your subnet mask in the Subnet mask box.
• Type the IP address of your Prestige in the Router address box.
5Close the TCP/IP Control Panel.
6Click Save if prompted, to save changes to your configuration.
7Turn on your Prestige and restart your computer (if prompted).
Verifying Settings
Check your TCP/IP properties in the TCP/IP Control Panel window.
Macintosh OS X
1Click the Apple menu, and click System Preferences to open the System Preferences
window.
Figure 122 Macintosh OS X: Apple Menu
2Click Network in the icon bar.
• Select Automatic from the Location list.
• Select Built-in Ethernet from the Show list.
• Click the TCP/IP tab.
3For dynamically assigned settings, select Using DHCP from the Configure list.
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184 Appendix C Setting up Your Computer’s IP Address
Figure 123 Macintosh OS X: Network
4For statically assigned settings, do the following:
•From the Configure box, select Manually.
• Type your IP address in the IP Address box.
• Type your subnet mask in the Subnet mask box.
• Type the IP address of your Prestige in the Router address box.
5Click Apply Now and close the window.
6Turn on your Prestige and restart your computer (if prompted).
Verifying Settings
Check your TCP/IP properties in the Network window.
Linux
This section shows you how to configure your computer’s TCP/IP settings in Red Hat Linux
9.0. Procedure, screens and file location may vary depending on your Linux distribution and
release version.
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Appendix C Setting up Your Computer’s IP Address 185
Note: Make sure you are logged in as the root administrator.
Using the K Desktop Environment (KDE)
Follow the steps below to configure your computer IP address using the KDE.
1Click the Red Hat button (located on the bottom left corner), select System Setting and
click Network.
Figure 124 Red Hat 9.0: KDE: Network Configuration: Devices
2Double-click on the profile of the network card you wish to configure. The Ethernet
Device General screen displays as shown.
Figure 125 Red Hat 9.0: KDE: Ethernet Device: General
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186 Appendix C Setting up Your Computer’s IP Address
• If you have a dynamic IP address, click Automatically obtain IP
address settings with and select dhcp from the drop down list.
• If you have a static IP address, click Statically set IP Addresses and
fill in the Address, Subnet mask, and Default Gateway Address
fields.
3Click OK to save the changes and close the Ethernet Device General screen.
4If you know your DNS server IP address(es), click the DNS tab in the Network
Configuration screen. Enter the DNS server information in the fields provided.
Figure 126 Red Hat 9.0: KDE: Network Configuration: DNS
5Click the Devices tab.
6Click the Activate button to apply the changes. The following screen displays. Click Ye s
to save the changes in all screens.
Figure 127 Red Hat 9.0: KDE: Network Configuration: Activate
7After the network card restart process is complete, make sure the Status is Active in the
Network Configuration screen.
Using Configuration Files
Follow the steps below to edit the network configuration files and set your computer IP
address.
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Appendix C Setting up Your Computer’s IP Address 187
1Assuming that you have only one network card on the computer, locate the ifconfig-
eth0 configuration file (where eth0 is the name of the Ethernet card). Open the
configuration file with any plain text editor.
• If you have a dynamic IP address, enter dhcp in the BOOTPROTO=
field. The following figure shows an example.
Figure 128 Red Hat 9.0: Dynamic IP Address Setting in ifconfig-eth0
DEVICE=eth0
ONBOOT=yes
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
USERCTL=no
PEERDNS=yes
TYPE=Ethernet
• If you have a static IP address, enter static in the BOOTPROTO=
field. Type IPADDR= followed by the IP address (in dotted decimal
notation) and type NETMASK= followed by the subnet mask. The
following example shows an example where the static IP address is
192.168.1.10 and the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.
Figure 129 Red Hat 9.0: Static IP Address Setting in ifconfig-eth0
DEVICE=eth0
ONBOOT=yes
BOOTPROTO=static
IPADDR=192.168.1.10
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
USERCTL=no
PEERDNS=yes
TYPE=Ethernet
2If you know your DNS server IP address(es), enter the DNS server information in the
resolv.conf file in the /etc directory. The following figure shows an example where
two DNS server IP addresses are specified.
Figure 130 Red Hat 9.0: DNS Settings in resolv.conf
nameserver 172.23.5.1
nameserver 172.23.5.2
3After you edit and save the configuration files, you must restart the network card. Enter
./network restart in the /etc/rc.d/init.d directory. The following figure
shows an example.
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188 Appendix C Setting up Your Computer’s IP Address
Figure 131 Red Hat 9.0: Restart Ethernet Card
[root@localhost init.d]# network restart
Shutting down interface eth0: [OK]
Shutting down loopback interface: [OK]
Setting network parameters: [OK]
Bringing up loopback interface: [OK]
Bringing up interface eth0: [OK]
Verifying Settings
Enter ifconfig in a terminal screen to check your TCP/IP properties.
Figure 132 Red Hat 9.0: Checking TCP/IP Properties
[root@localhost]# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:50:BA:72:5B:44
inet addr:172.23.19.129 Bcast:172.23.19.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:717 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:13 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:730412 (713.2 Kb) TX bytes:1570 (1.5 Kb)
Interrupt:10 Base address:0x1000
[root@localhost]#
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Appendix D PPPoE 189
APPENDIX D
PPPoE
PPPoE in Action
An ADSL modem bridges a PPP session over Ethernet (PPP over Ethernet, RFC 2516) from
your computer to an ATM PVC (Permanent Virtual Circuit) which connects to a DSL Access
Concentrator where the PPP session terminates (see Figure 133 on page 190). One PVC can
support any number of PPP sessions from your LAN. PPPoE provides access control and
billing functionality in a manner similar to dial-up services using PPP.
Benefits of PPPoE
PPPoE offers the following benefits:
It provides you with a familiar dial-up networking (DUN) user interface.
It lessens the burden on the carriers of provisioning virtual circuits all the way to the ISP on
multiple switches for thousands of users. For GSTN (PSTN and ISDN), the switching fabric
is already in place.
It allows the ISP to use the existing dial-up model to authenticate and (optionally) to provide
differentiated services.
Traditional Dial-up Scenario
The following diagram depicts a typical hardware configuration where the computers use
traditional dial-up networking.
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Figure 133 Single-Computer per Router Hardware Configuration
How PPPoE Works
The PPPoE driver makes the Ethernet appear as a serial link to the computer and the computer
runs PPP over it, while the modem bridges the Ethernet frames to the Access Concentrator
(AC). Between the AC and an ISP, the AC is acting as a L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol)
LAC (L2TP Access Concentrator) and tunnels the PPP frames to the ISP. The L2TP tunnel is
capable of carrying multiple PPP sessions.
With PPPoE, the VC (Virtual Circuit) is equivalent to the dial-up connection and is between
the modem and the AC, as opposed to all the way to the ISP. However, the PPP negotiation is
between the computer and the ISP.
ZyWALL as a PPPoE Client
When using the ZyWALL as a PPPoE client, the computers on the LAN see only Ethernet and
are not aware of PPPoE. This alleviates the administrator from having to manage the PPPoE
clients on the individual computers.
Figure 134 ZyWALL as a PPPoE Client
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Appendix E PPTP 191
APPENDIX E
PPTP
What is PPTP?
PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) is a Microsoft proprietary protocol (RFC 2637 for
PPTP is informational only) to tunnel PPP frames.
How can we transport PPP frames from a computer to a broadband
modem over Ethernet?
A solution is to build PPTP into the ANT (ADSL Network Termination) where PPTP is used
only over the short haul between the computer and the modem over Ethernet. For the rest of
the connection, the PPP frames are transported with PPP over AAL5 (RFC 2364) The PPP
connection, however, is still between the computer and the ISP. The various connections in
this setup are depicted in the following diagram. The drawback of this solution is that it
requires one separate ATM VC per destination.
Figure 135 Transport PPP frames over Ethernet
PPTP and the ZyWALL
When the ZyWALL is deployed in such a setup, it appears as a computer to the ANT.
In Windows VPN or PPTP Pass-Through feature, the PPTP tunneling is created from
Windows 95, 98 and NT clients to an NT server in a remote location. The pass-through feature
allows users on the network to access a different remote server using the ZyWALL's Internet
connection. In SUA/NAT mode, the ZyWALL is able to pass the PPTP packets to the internal
PPTP server (i.e. NT server) behind the NAT. You need to configure port forwarding for port
1723 to have the ZyWALL forward PPTP packets to the server. In the case above as the
remote PPTP Client initializes the PPTP connection, the user must configure the PPTP clients.
The ZyWALL initializes the PPTP connection hence; there is no need to configure the remote
PPTP clients.
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192 Appendix E PPTP
PPTP Protocol Overview
PPTP is very similar to L2TP, since L2TP is based on both PPTP and L2F (Cisco’s Layer 2
Forwarding). Conceptually, there are three parties in PPTP, namely the PNS (PPTP Network
Server), the PAC (PPTP Access Concentrator) and the PPTP user. The PNS is the box that
hosts both the PPP and the PPTP stacks and forms one end of the PPTP tunnel. The PAC is the
box that dials/answers the phone calls and relays the PPP frames to the PNS. The PPTP user is
not necessarily a PPP client (can be a PPP server too). Both the PNS and the PAC must have
IP connectivity; however, the PAC must in addition have dial-up capability. The phone call is
between the user and the PAC and the PAC tunnels the PPP frames to the PNS. The PPTP user
is unaware of the tunnel between the PAC and the PNS.
Figure 136 PPTP Protocol Overview
Microsoft includes PPTP as a part of the Windows OS. In Microsoft’s implementation, the
computer, and hence the ZyWALL, is the PNS that requests the PAC (the ANT) to place an
outgoing call over AAL5 to an RFC 2364 server.
Control & PPP Connections
Each PPTP session has distinct control connection and PPP data connection.
Call Connection
The control connection runs over TCP. Similar to L2TP, a tunnel control connection is first
established before call control messages can be exchanged. Please note that a tunnel control
connection supports multiple call sessions.
The following diagram depicts the message exchange of a successful call setup between a
computer and an ANT.
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Appendix E PPTP 193
Figure 137 Example Message Exchange between Computer and an ANT
PPP Data Connection
The PPP frames are tunneled between the PNS and PAC over GRE (General Routing
Encapsulation, RFC 1701, 1702). The individual calls within a tunnel are distinguished using
the Call ID field in the GRE header.
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Appendix F Wireless LANs 195
APPENDIX F
Wireless LANs
Wireless LAN Topologies
This section discusses ad-hoc and infrastructure wireless LAN topologies.
Ad-hoc Wireless LAN Configuration
The simplest WLAN configuration is an independent (Ad-hoc) WLAN that connects a set of
computers with wireless stations (A, B, C). Any time two or more wireless adapters are within
range of each other, they can set up an independent network, which is commonly referred to as
an Ad-hoc network or Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS). The following diagram shows an
example of notebook computers using wireless adapters to form an Ad-hoc wireless LAN.
Figure 138 Peer-to-Peer Communication in an Ad-hoc Network
BSS
A Basic Service Set (BSS) exists when all communications between wireless stations or
between a wireless station and a wired network client go through one access point (AP).
Intra-BSS traffic is traffic between wireless stations in the BSS. When Intra-BSS is enabled,
wireless station A and B can access the wired network and communicate with each other.
When Intra-BSS is disabled, wireless station A and B can still access the wired network but
cannot communicate with each other.
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Figure 139 Basic Service Set
ESS
An Extended Service Set (ESS) consists of a series of overlapping BSSs, each containing an
access point, with each access point connected together by a wired network. This wired
connection between APs is called a Distribution System (DS).
This type of wireless LAN topology is called an Infrastructure WLAN. The Access Points not
only provide communication with the wired network but also mediate wireless network traffic
in the immediate neighborhood.
An ESSID (ESS IDentification) uniquely identifies each ESS. All access points and their
associated wireless stations within the same ESS must have the same ESSID in order to
communicate.
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Figure 140 Infrastructure WLAN
Channel
A channel is the radio frequency(ies) used by IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless devices. Channels
available depend on your geographical area. You may have a choice of channels (for your
region) so you should use a different channel than an adjacent AP (access point) to reduce
interference. Interference occurs when radio signals from different access points overlap
causing interference and degrading performance.
Adjacent channels partially overlap however. To avoid interference due to overlap, your AP
should be on a channel at least five channels away from a channel that an adjacent AP is using.
For example, if your region has 11 channels and an adjacent AP is using channel 1, then you
need to select a channel between 6 or 11.
RTS/CTS
A hidden node occurs when two stations are within range of the same access point, but are not
within range of each other. The following figure illustrates a hidden node. Both stations (STA)
are within range of the access point (AP) or wireless gateway, but out-of-range of each other,
so they cannot "hear" each other, that is they do not know if the channel is currently being
used. Therefore, they are considered hidden from each other.
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Figure 141 RTS/CTS
When station A sends data to the AP, it might not know that the station B is already using the
channel. If these two stations send data at the same time, collisions may occur when both sets
of data arrive at the AP at the same time, resulting in a loss of messages for both stations.
RTS/CTS is designed to prevent collisions due to hidden nodes. An RTS/CTS defines the
biggest size data frame you can send before an RTS (Request To Send)/CTS (Clear to Send)
handshake is invoked.
When a data frame exceeds the RTS/CTS value you set (between 0 to 2432 bytes), the station
that wants to transmit this frame must first send an RTS (Request To Send) message to the AP
for permission to send it. The AP then responds with a CTS (Clear to Send) message to all
other stations within its range to notify them to defer their transmission. It also reserves and
confirms with the requesting station the time frame for the requested transmission.
Stations can send frames smaller than the specified RTS/CTS directly to the AP without the
RTS (Request To Send)/CTS (Clear to Send) handshake.
You should only configure RTS/CTS if the possibility of hidden nodes exists on your network
and the "cost" of resending large frames is more than the extra network overhead involved in
the RTS (Request To Send)/CTS (Clear to Send) handshake.
If the RTS/CTS value is greater than the Fragmentation Threshold value (see next), then the
RTS (Request To Send)/CTS (Clear to Send) handshake will never occur as data frames will
be fragmented before they reach RTS/CTS size.
Note: Enabling the RTS Threshold causes redundant network overhead that could
negatively affect the throughput performance instead of providing a remedy.
Fragmentation Threshold
A Fragmentation Threshold is the maximum data fragment size (between 256 and 2432
bytes) that can be sent in the wireless network before the AP will fragment the packet into
smaller data frames.
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Appendix F Wireless LANs 199
A large Fragmentation Threshold is recommended for networks not prone to interference
while you should set a smaller threshold for busy networks or networks that are prone to
interference.
If the Fragmentation Threshold value is smaller than the RTS/CTS value (see previously)
you set then the RTS (Request To Send)/CTS (Clear to Send) handshake will never occur as
data frames will be fragmented before they reach RTS/CTS size.
Preamble Type
A preamble is used to synchronize the transmission timing in your wireless network. There are
two preamble modes: Long and Short.
Short preamble takes less time to process and minimizes overhead, so it should be used in a
good wireless network environment when all wireless stations support it.
Select Long if you have a ‘noisy’ network or are unsure of what preamble mode your wireless
stations support as all IEEE 802.11b compliant wireless adapters must support long preamble.
However, not all wireless adapters support short preamble. Use long preamble if you are
unsure what preamble mode the wireless adapters support, to ensure interpretability between
the AP and the wireless stations and to provide more reliable communication in ‘noisy’
networks.
Select Dynamic to have the AP automatically use short preamble when all wireless stations
support it, otherwise the AP uses long preamble.
Note: The AP and the wireless stations MUST use the same preamble mode in order
to communicate.
IEEE 802.11g Wireless LAN
IEEE 802.11g is fully compatible with the IEEE 802.11b standard. This means an IEEE
802.11b adapter can interface directly with an IEEE 802.11g access point (and vice versa) at
11 Mbps or lower depending on range. IEEE 802.11g has several intermediate rate steps
between the maximum and minimum data rates. The IEEE 802.11g data rate and modulation
are as follows:
Table 85 IEEE802.11g
DATA RATE (MBPS) MODULATION
1DBPSK (Differential Binary Phase Shift Keyed)
2DQPSK (Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Keying)
5.5 / 11 CCK (Complementary Code Keying)
6/9/12/18/24/36/48/54 OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)
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IEEE 802.1x
In June 2001, the IEEE 802.1x standard was designed to extend the features of IEEE 802.11 to
support extended authentication as well as providing additional accounting and control
features. It is supported by Windows XP and a number of network devices. Some advantages
of IEEE 802.1x are:
• User based identification that allows for roaming.
• Support for RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service, RFC 2138, 2139) for
centralized user profile and accounting management on a network RADIUS server.
• Support for EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol, RFC 2486) that allows additional
authentication methods to be deployed with no changes to the access point or the wireless
stations.
RADIUS
RADIUS is based on a client-server model that supports authentication, authorization and
accounting. The access point is the client and the server is the RADIUS server. The RADIUS
server handles the following tasks:
• Authentication
Determines the identity of the users.
• Authorization
Determines the network services available to authenticated users once they are connected
to the network.
• Accounting
Keeps track of the client’s network activity.
RADIUS is a simple package exchange in which your AP 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.
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Appendix F Wireless LANs 201
• 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
network from unauthorized access.
EAP Authentication
EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) is an authentication protocol that runs on top of the
IEEE802.1x transport mechanism in order to support multiple types of user authentication. By
using EAP to interact with an EAP-compatible RADIUS server, the access point helps a
wireless station and a RADIUS server perform authentication.
The type of authentication you use depends on the RADIUS server or the AP.
The following figure shows an overview of authentication when you specify a RADIUS server
on your access point.
Figure 142 EAP Authentication
The details below provide a general description of how IEEE 802.1x EAP authentication
works. For an example list of EAP-MD5 authentication steps, see the IEEE 802.1x appendix.
1The wireless station sends a “start” message to the device.
2The device sends a “request identity” message to the wireless station for identity
information.
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202 Appendix F Wireless LANs
3The wireless station replies with identity information, including username and password.
4The RADIUS server checks the user information against its user profile database and
determines whether or not to authenticate the wireless station.
Types of Authentication
This section discusses some popular authentication types: EAP-MD5, EAP-TLS, EAP-
TTLS, PEAP and LEAP.
The type of authentication you use depends on the RADIUS server or the AP. Consult your
network administrator for more information.
EAP-MD5 (Message-Digest Algorithm 5)
MD5 authentication is the simplest one-way authentication method. The authentication server
sends a challenge to the wireless station. The wireless station ‘proves’ that it knows the
password by encrypting the password with the challenge and sends back the information.
Password is not sent in plain text.
However, MD5 authentication has some weaknesses. Since the authentication server needs to
get the plaintext passwords, the passwords must be stored. Thus someone other than the
authentication server may access the password file. In addition, it is possible to impersonate an
authentication server as MD5 authentication method does not perform mutual authentication.
Finally, MD5 authentication method does not support data encryption with dynamic session
key. You must configure WEP encryption keys for data encryption.
EAP-TLS (Transport Layer Security)
With EAP-TLS, digital certifications are needed by both the server and the wireless stations
for mutual authentication. The server presents a certificate to the client. After validating the
identity of the server, the client sends a different certificate to the server. The exchange of
certificates is done in the open before a secured tunnel is created. This makes user identity
vulnerable to passive attacks. A digital certificate is an electronic ID card that authenticates the
sender’s identity. However, to implement EAP-TLS, you need a Certificate Authority (CA) to
handle certificates, which imposes a management overhead.
EAP-TTLS (Tunneled Transport Layer Service)
EAP-TTLS is an extension of the EAP-TLS authentication that uses certificates for only the
server-side authentications to establish a secure connection. Client authentication is then done
by sending username and password through the secure connection, thus client identity is
protected. For client authentication, EAP-TTLS supports EAP methods and legacy
authentication methods such as PAP, CHAP, MS-CHAP and MS-CHAP v2.
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Appendix F Wireless LANs 203
PEAP (Protected EAP)
Like EAP-TTLS, server-side certificate authentication is used to establish a secure connection,
then use simple username and password methods through the secured connection to
authenticate the clients, thus hiding client identity. However, PEAP only supports EAP
methods, such as EAP-MD5, EAP-MSCHAPv2 and EAP-GTC (EAP-Generic Token Card),
for client authentication. EAP-GTC is implemented only by Cisco.
LEAP
LEAP (Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol) is a Cisco implementation of IEEE
802.1x.
WEP Encryption
WEP encryption scrambles the data transmitted between the wireless stations and the access
points to keep network communications private. It encrypts unicast and multicast
communications in a network. Both the wireless stations and the access points must use the
same WEP key.
WEP Authentication Steps
Three different methods can be used to authenticate wireless stations to the network: Open
System, Shared Key, and Auto. The following figure illustrates the steps involved.
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204 Appendix F Wireless LANs
Figure 143 WEP Authentication Steps
Open system authentication involves an unencrypted two-message procedure. A wireless
station sends an open system authentication request to the AP, which will then automatically
accept and connect the wireless station to the network. In effect, open system is not
authentication at all as any station can gain access to the network.
Shared key authentication involves a four-message procedure. A wireless station sends a
shared key authentication request to the AP, which will then reply with a challenge text
message. The wireless station must then use the AP’s default WEP key to encrypt the
challenge text and return it to the AP, which attempts to decrypt the message using the AP’s
default WEP key. If the decrypted message matches the challenge text, the wireless station is
authenticated.
When your device authentication method is set to open system, it will only accept open system
authentication requests. The same is true for shared key authentication. However, when it is
set to auto authentication, the device will accept either type of authentication request and the
device will fall back to use open authentication if the shared key does not match.
Dynamic WEP Key Exchange
The AP maps a unique key that is generated with the RADIUS server. This key expires when
the wireless connection times out, disconnects or reauthentication times out. A new WEP key
is generated each time reauthentication is performed.
If this feature is enabled, it is not necessary to configure a default encryption key in the
Wireless screen. You may still configure and store keys here, but they will not be used while
Dynamic WEP is enabled.
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Appendix F Wireless LANs 205
Note: EAP-MD5 cannot be used with Dynamic WEP Key Exchange
For added security, certificate-based authentications (EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS and PEAP) use
dynamic keys for data encryption. They are often deployed in corporate environments, but for
public deployment, a simple user name and password pair is more practical. The following
table is a comparison of the features of authentication types.
Table 86 Comparison of EAP Authentication Types
EAP-MD5 EAP-TLS EAP-TTLS PEAP LEAP
Mutual Authentication No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Certificate – Client No Yes Optional Optional No
Certificate – Server No Yes Yes Yes No
Dynamic Key Exchange No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Credential Integrity None Strong Strong Strong Moderate
Deployment Difficulty Easy Hard Moderate Moderate Moderate
Client Identity Protection No No Yes Yes No
WPA
User Authentication
WPA applies IEEE 802.1x and Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) to authenticate
wireless stations using an external RADIUS database.
Encryption
WPA improves data encryption by using Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) or
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Message Integrity Check (MIC) and IEEE 802.1x.
TKIP uses 128-bit keys that are dynamically generated and distributed by the authentication
server. It includes a per-packet key mixing function, a Message Integrity Check (MIC) named
Michael, an extended initialization vector (IV) with sequencing rules, and a re-keying
mechanism.
TKIP regularly changes and rotates the encryption keys so that the same encryption key is
never used twice.
The RADIUS server distributes a Pairwise Master Key (PMK) key to the AP that then sets up
a key hierarchy and management system, using the PMK to dynamically generate unique data
encryption keys to encrypt every data packet that is wirelessly communicated between the AP
and the wireless stations. This all happens in the background automatically.
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) also uses a secret key. This implementation of AES
applies a 128-bit key to 128-bit blocks of data.
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206 Appendix F Wireless LANs
The Message Integrity Check (MIC) is designed to prevent an attacker from capturing data
packets, altering them and resending them. The MIC provides a strong mathematical function
in which the receiver and the transmitter each compute and then compare the MIC. If they do
not match, it is assumed that the data has been tampered with and the packet is dropped.
By generating unique data encryption keys for every data packet and by creating an integrity
checking mechanism (MIC), TKIP makes it much more difficult to decrypt data on a Wi-Fi
network than WEP, making it difficult for an intruder to break into the network.
The encryption mechanisms used for WPA and WPA-PSK are the same. The only difference
between the two is that WPA-PSK uses a simple common password, instead of user-specific
credentials. The common-password approach makes WPA-PSK susceptible to brute-force
password-guessing attacks but it’s still an improvement over WEP as it employs an easier-to-
use, consistent, single, alphanumeric password.
Security Parameters Summary
Refer to this table to see what other security parameters you should configure for each
Authentication Method/ key management protocol type. MAC address filters are not
dependent on how you configure these security features.
Table 87 Wireless Security Relational Matrix
AUTHENTICATION
METHOD/ KEY
MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL
ENCRYPTION
METHOD
ENTER
MANUAL KEY ENABLE IEEE 802.1X
Open None No No
Open WEP No Enable with Dynamic WEP Key
Yes Enable without Dynamic WEP Key
Yes Disable
Shared WEP No Enable with Dynamic WEP Key
Yes Enable without Dynamic WEP Key
Yes Disable
WPA WEP No Yes
WPA TKIP No Yes
WPA-PSK WEP Yes Yes
WPA-PSK TKIP Yes Yes
Roaming
A wireless station is a device with an IEEE 802.11 mode compliant wireless adapter. An
access point (AP) acts as a bridge between the wireless and wired networks. An AP creates its
own wireless coverage area. A wireless station can associate with a particular access point
only if it is within the access point’s coverage area.
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Appendix F Wireless LANs 207
In a network environment with multiple access points, wireless stations are able to switch from
one access point to another as they move between the coverage areas. This is roaming. As the
wireless station moves from place to place, it is responsible for choosing the most appropriate
access point depending on the signal strength, network utilization or other factors.
The roaming feature on the access points allows the access points to relay information about
the wireless stations to each other. When a wireless station moves from a coverage area to
another, it scans and uses the channel of a new access point, which then informs the access
points on the LAN about the change. The new information is then propagated to the other
access points on the LAN. An example is shown in Figure 144.
If the roaming feature is not enabled on the access points, information is not communicated
between the access points when a wireless station moves between coverage areas. The
wireless station may not be able to communicate with other wireless stations on the network
and vice versa.
Figure 144 Roaming Example
The steps below describe the roaming process.
1As wireless station Y moves from the coverage area of access point P1 to that of access
point
2P2, it scans and uses the signal of access point P2.
3Access point P2 acknowledges the presence of wireless station Y and relays this
information to access point P1 through the wired LAN.
4Access point P1 updates the new position of wireless station.
5Wireless station Y sends a request to access point P2 for re-authentication.
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Requirements for Roaming
The following requirements must be met in order for wireless stations to roam between the
coverage areas.
1All the access points must be on the same subnet and configured with the same ESSID.
2If IEEE 802.1x user authentication is enabled and to be done locally on the access point,
the new access point must have the user profile for the wireless station.
3The adjacent access points should use different radio channels when their coverage areas
overlap.
4All access points must use the same port number to relay roaming information.
5The access points must be connected to the Ethernet and be able to get IP addresses from
a DHCP server if using dynamic IP address assignment.
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Appendix G Antenna Selection and Positioning Recommendation 209
APPENDIX G
Antenna Selection and Positioning
Recommendation
An antenna couples RF signals onto air. A transmitter within a wireless device sends an RF
signal to the antenna, which propagates the signal through the air. The antenna also operates in
reverse by capturing RF signals from the air.
Choosing the right antennas and positioning them properly increases the range and coverage
area of a wireless LAN.
Antenna Characteristics
Frequency
An antenna in the frequency of 2.4GHz (IEEE 802.11b) or 5GHz (IEEE 802.11a) is needed to
communicate efficiently in a wireless LAN.
Radiation Pattern
A radiation pattern is a diagram that allows you to visualize the shape of the antenna’s
coverage area.
Antenna Gain
Antenna gain, measured in dB (decibel), is the increase in coverage within the RF beam width.
Higher antenna gain improves the range of the signal for better communications.
For an indoor site, each 1 dB increase in antenna gain results in a range increase of
approximately 2.5%. For an unobstructed outdoor site, each 1dB increase in gain results in a
range increase of approximately 5%. Actual results may vary depending on the network
environment.
Antenna gain is sometimes specified in dBi, which is how much the antenna increases the
signal power compared to using an isotropic antenna. An isotropic antenna is a theoretical
perfect antenna that sends out radio signals equally well in all directions. dBi represents the
true gain that the antenna provides.
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210 Appendix G Antenna Selection and Positioning Recommendation
Types of Antennas For WLAN
There are two types of antennas used for wireless LAN applications.
• Omni-directional antennas send the RF signal out in all directions on a horizontal plane.
The coverage area is torus-shaped (like a donut) which makes these antennas ideal for a
room environment. With a wide coverage area, it is possible to make circular overlapping
coverage areas with multiple access points.
• Directional antennas concentrate the RF signal in a beam, like a flashlight. The angle of
the beam width determines the direction of the coverage pattern; typically ranges from 20
degrees (less directional) to 90 degrees (very directional). The directional antennas are
ideal for hallways and outdoor point-to-point applications.
Positioning Antennas
In general, antennas should be mounted as high as practically possible and free of
obstructions. In point-to –point application, position both transmitting and receiving antenna
at the same height and in a direct line of sight to each other to attend the best performance.
For omni-directional antennas mounted on a table, desk, and so on, point the antenna up. For
omni-directional antennas mounted on a wall or ceiling, point the antenna down. For a single
AP application, place omni-directional antennas as close to the center of the coverage area as
possible.
For directional antennas, point the antenna in the direction of the desired coverage area.
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211
Index
Numerics
110V AC 6
230V AC 6
802.1x 70
A
Abnormal Working Conditions 7
AC 6
Accessories 6
Acts of God 7
Airflow 6
Alternative Subnet Mask Notation 167
American Wire Gauge 6
Antenna
Directional 210
Omni-directional 210
Antenna gain 209
AP (access point) 197
Authentication 203
Authority 4
AWG 6
B
Backup 147
Basement 6
Basic wireless security 49
BSS 195
C
CA 202
Cables, Connecting 6
Certificate Authority 202
Certifications 5
Changes or Modifications 4
Channel 197
Interference 197
Channel ID 64
Charge 7
Circuit 4
Class B 4
Communications 4
Compliance, FCC 4
Components 7
Condition 7
Configuration 41, 95
Connecting Cables 6
Consequential Damages 7
Contact Information 8
Contacting Customer Support 8
Copyright 3
Correcting Interference 4
Corrosive Liquids 6
Covers 6
CTS (Clear to Send) 198
Customer Support 8
D
Damage 6
Dampness 6
Danger 6
Dealer 4
Default 148
Defective 7
Denmark, Contact Information 8
DHCP 41, 93, 95, 96, 136
DHCP Table Summary 41
DHCP_client list 97
Disclaimer 3
Discretion 7
Domain Name 102
Dust 6
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212
Dynamic DNS 136
Dynamic WEP Key Exchange 204
DYNDNS Wildcard 136
E
EAP 61
EAP Authentication 201, 202
ECHO 102
Electric Shock 6
Electrical Pipes 6
Electrocution 6
Encryption 205
Equal Value 7
ESS 196
Ethernet 163
Ethernet Encapsulation 102
Europe 6
Exposure 6
Extended Service Set 196
Extended Service Set IDentification 64
Extended wireless security 50
F
Factory LAN Defaults 93
Failure 7
FCC 4
Compliance 4
Rules, Part 15 4
FCC Rules 4
Federal Communications Commission 4
Finger 102
Finland, Contact Information 8
Firewall 109, 110
Firmware File
Maintenance 146
Fitness 7
Fragmentation Threshold 198
Fragmentation threshold 198
France, Contact Information 8
FTP 93, 102, 119, 136
FTP Restrictions 119
Functionally Equivalent 7
G
Gas Pipes 6
General Setup 135
General wireless LAN screen 63
Germany, Contact Information 8
Global 100
God, act of 7
H
Harmful Interference 4
Hidden node 197
High Voltage Points 6
Host 136
Host IDs 165
HTTP 102
I
IBSS 195
IEEE 802.11g 30, 199
IEEE 802.11i 30
Independent Basic Service Set 195
Indirect Damages 7
initialization vector (IV) 205
Inside 100
Inside Global Address 99
Inside Local Address 99
Install UPnP
Windows XP 128
Insurance 7
Interference 4
Interference Correction Measures 4
Interference Statement 4
Internet Access Setup 152
IP Address 41, 94, 97, 101, 102, 104, 105
IP Addressing 165
IP Classes 165
IP Pool 96
IP Pool Setup 93
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L
Labor 7
LAN Setup 81, 93
LAN TCP/IP 93
Legal Rights 7
Liability 3
License 3
Lightning 6
Liquids, Corrosive 6
Local 100
M
MAC Address Filter Action 77
MAC Address Filtering 76
MAC Filter 76
MAC filter 62
Management Information Base (MIB) 121
Materials 7
Merchantability 7
Message Integrity Check (MIC) 205
Metric 82, 117
Modifications 4
N
NAT 101, 102
Definitions 99
How NAT Works 100
Server Sets 102
What NAT does 100
Navigation Panel 39
Network Management 102
New 7
NNTP 102
North America 6
North America Contact Information 8
Norway, Contact Information 8
O
Opening 6
Operating Condition 7
OTIST 72
OTIST Wizard 51
Out-dated Warranty 7
Outlet 4
Outside 100
P
Packet statistics 42
Pairwise Master Key (PMK) 205
Parts 7
Patent 3
Permission 3
Photocopying 3
Pipes 6
Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol 87, 102
Pool 6
POP3 102
Port Numbers 102
Postage Prepaid. 7
Power Adaptor 6
Power Cord 6
Power Outlet 6
Power Supply 6
Power Supply, repair 6
PPPoE 189
PPTP 102
Preamble Mode 199
Product Model 8
Product Page 5
Product Serial Number 8
Products 7
Proof of Purchase 7
Proper Operating Condition 7
Purchase, Proof of 7
Purchaser 7
Q
Qualified Service Personnel 6
R
Radio Communications 4
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Radio Frequency Energy 4
Radio Interference 4
Radio Reception 4
Radio Technician 4
RADIUS 200
Shared Secret Key 201
RADIUS Message Types 200
RADIUS Messages 200
Receiving Antenna 4
Registered 3
Registered Trademark 3
Regular Mail 8
Related Documentation 25
Relocate 4
Re-manufactured 7
Remote Management and NAT 119
Remote Management Limitations 119
Removing 6
Reorient 4
Repair 6, 7
Replace 7
Replacement 7
Reproduction 3
Restore 7, 147
Return Material Authorization (RMA) Number 7
Returned Products 7
Returns 7
RF (Radio Frequency) 30
Rights 3
Rights, Legal 7
Risk 6
Risks 6
RMA 7
Roaming 78, 206
Example 207
Requirements 208
RTS (Request To Send) 198
RTS Threshold 197, 198
S
Safety Warnings 6
Security Parameters 206
Separation Between Equipment and Receiver 4
Serial Number 8
Service 6, 7
Service Personnel 6
Service Set 64
Service Type 152
Services 102, 111
Shipping 7
Shock, Electric 6
SMTP 102
SNMP 102, 110, 121
Manager 121
MIBs 122
Spain, Contact Information 9
Stateful Inspection 109
Static DHCP 96
Static Route 115
SUA 102, 103
Subnet Mask 94
Subnet Masks 166
Subnetting 166
Supply Voltage 6
Support E-mail 8
Sweden, Contact Information 9
Swimming Pool 6
Syntax Conventions 25
System information 46
System Timeout 120
T
Tam pe rin g 7
TCP/IP 94
Telecommunication Line Cord. 6
Telephone 8
Television Interference 4
Television Reception 4
Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) 205
TFTP Restrictions 119
Thunderstorm 6
Time Zone 137
Trademark 3
Trademark Owners 3
Trademarks 3
Traffic Redirect 90
Translation 3
Trigger Port Forwarding
Process 106
TV Technician 4
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U
Undesired Operations 4
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) 125
User Authentication 205
User Name 137
V
Value 7
Vendor 6
Ventilation Slots 6
Viewing Certifications 5
Voltage Supply 6
Voltage, High 6
VPN 87
W
Wall Mount 6
WAN advanced 89
WAN MAC address 57
WAN Wizard 52
Warnings 6
Warranty 7
Warranty Information 8
Warranty Period 7
Water 6
Water Pipes 6
Web 120
Web Configurator 35, 37
Web Site 8
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) 31
WEP Encryption 66, 68
WEP encryption 65, 203
Wet Basement 6
Wi-Fi Protected Access 67
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) 30
Wireless association list summary 42
Wireless Client WPA Supplicants 69
Wireless LAN MAC Address Filtering 31
Wireless LAN Wizard 47
Wireless security 61
WLAN
Interference 197
Security parameters 206
Workmanship 7
Worldwide Contact Information 8
WPA 67
Written Permission 3
Z
ZyNOS 3
ZyXEL Communications Corporation 3
ZyXEL Home Page 5
ZyXEL Limited Warranty
Note 7
ZyXEL Network Operating System 3