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WPA, WPA2, WEP, RADIUS, Mixed, and Only

Tags: router, internet, networking

Sunday, May 31, 2015 6:10:56 PM

What to Choose?

Unless you need to support legacy computers, choose WPA2 Pre-Shared Key Only. Then choose AES as the WPA Algorithm.

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Security Modes

WPA2 replaces WPA and supports AES. WPA2 has two ways of authenticating (Pre-Shared Key or RADIUS.) Pre-Shared Key Only is what most home networks will use. RADIUS requires a RADIUS server that most households lack, so you probably aren't going to use that. Further, if you need to support legacy computers, WPA2 also supports a Mixed mode that permits computers to connect via either WPA or WPA2 whereas the Only mode supports just WPA2.

  • WPA2 Pre-Shared Key Only is best choice. It supports only the modern WPA2 access and uses a password (aka as a pre-shared key.)
  • WPA2 Pre-Shared Key Mixed supports WPA2 and legacy WPA connections.
  • WPA2 RADIUS Only requires a RADIUS server, which most home networks don't have.
  • WPA2 RADIUS Mixed also supports use of WPA for legacy systems.

WPA replaces WEP and supports TKIP. Like the newer WPA2, the legacy WPA can have two ways of authenticating (Pre-Shared Key or RADIUS.) If you need to support WPA, just use WPA2 Mixed instead, because it supports both the legacy WPA and the newer WPA2.

  • WPA Pre-Shared Key
  • WPA RADIUS

RADIUS requires an external server for authentication. Most home networks do not have this.

WEP is obsolete.

WPA Algorithms

  • AES is stronger than TKIP is. It's generally associated with WPA2.
  • Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) is weaker than AES is and is associated with WPA.

Sources

http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-wpa-and-wpa2