How do you get WPA running?

JaxDomino · 11-04-03, 01:19 PM

I was wondering if anyone has WPA up and running? I have it on my Linksys 54g WAP, but I am still using WEP, because the beta drivers for Linksys CF card don't seem to support WPA, nor doesd WM2K3 for that matter. Heck I don't even see the support MS promised in XP!

Howard2k · 11-04-03, 06:13 PM

I don't believe that WPA support is available yet. Send an email to Linksys and maybe if enough people do it they'll include it.

JaxDomino · 11-05-03, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Howard2k
I don't believe that WPA support is available yet. Send an email to Linksys and maybe if enough people do it they'll include it.

My WAP has WPA on it after I upgraded the firmware. There is no WPA support in WM2K3 it seems. XP should have WPA support built in after SP1 and a patch on Windows Update. Now what I'd like to know is does anyone have WPA working? I see all these artiles in Tech Republic about people ruuning WPA, but I haven't seen it in the real world.

Howard2k · 11-05-03, 09:14 AM

Wasn't WPA supposed to allow support for WEP clients too? I didn't think it was an "all-or-nothing" type deal? Having said that, WPA is just a middle-step to 802.11i so maybe we won't see too much widescale deployment of it with 802.11i just around the corner?

doogald · 11-05-03, 09:22 AM

Yes, WPA is definitely a designed "temporary" solution. There are APs I believe that support both WPA and WEP, and, in fact, for enterprises there are some great wireless switching network technology that let's you do things like give WEP one sort of access, WPA another sort, VPN connections another, and no-encrypted links still another. So you can keep non-encrypted completely publi, with no visibility to your internal network, WEP can have access to some resources but not others, WPA and VPN can have access to the full internal network. Cool stuff.

It seems that WiFi is evolving into something where the access points are dumb radios, with no intelligence at all, and all of the encryption and switching happens on more sophisticated devices. I saw a deno of such a product last week that, among other things, can detect "rogue" access points in your radio space and then use one of the real radios to start sending denial of service packets to the rogue so that it is useless to anyone connected to it. Cool stuff.

JaxDomino · 11-05-03, 09:23 AM

No Howard, I think it is an all or nothing thing. You can't access a WPA enabled WAP with a WEP key. I think 802.11i will incorporate WPA, so WPA, should be very wide spread by this time next year.

JaxDomino · 11-05-03, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by doogald
Yes, WPA is definitely a designed "temporary" solution. There are APs I believe that support both WPA and WEP, and, in fact, for enterprises there are some great wireless switching network technology that let's you do things like give WEP one sort of access, WPA another sort, VPN connections another, and no-encrypted links still another. So you can keep non-encrypted completely publi, with no visibility to your internal network, WEP can have access to some resources but not others, WPA and VPN can have access to the full internal network. Cool stuff.

It seems that WiFi is evolving into something where the access points are dumb radios, with no intelligence at all, and all of the encryption and switching happens on more sophisticated devices. I saw a deno of such a product last week that, among other things, can detect "rogue" access points in your radio space and then use one of the real radios to start sending denial of service packets to the rogue so that it is useless to anyone connected to it. Cool stuff.

That would be cool! If only I had the money!!!

Howard2k · 11-05-03, 02:08 PM

From the WPA:

Quote:

- Mixed mode WPA (simultaneous WEP and WPA clients in one BSS/ESS) is discouraged by the Wi-Fi Alliance because this mode of operation is inherently insecure.

- WPA Certification testing includes a negative test to ensure that the device under test does not support mixed mode in its default configuration.

- However, as a general rule, any vendor is free to offer any proprietary feature above and beyond Wi-Fi features. LEAP is probably the most famous example. LEAP-enabled products may still receive Wi-Fi Certification even though the LEAP feature is not part of any Wi-Fi certification test. Similarly, if a vendor offered a mixed mode feature that was not part of the product's default configuration, though the Alliance discourages this, the product could still be WPA and Wi-Fi Certified.

JaxDomino · 11-05-03, 02:18 PM

Good write up Howard!

Howard2k · 11-05-03, 03:19 PM

I just found it. Can't take any credit. And I should comment that it's from the Wifi Alliance, not the WPA. :)