What is encryption? How does it differ from authentication?
Specify the active WEP key for your wireless network.
The WEP key format is programmatically determined and validated using either alphanumeric ASCII (8-bit) characters or hexadecimal (4-bit) digits.
Note: If you are using an alphanumeric key and experiencing compatibility issues between wireless devices, using a hexadecimal WEP key might resolve the problem.
If the authentication method is not programmatically determined, choose one of the following:
When you have completed the entries on this screen, click Next to continue.
Note: The HP Jetdirect wireless print server supports WEP keys for 64-bit (sometimes called "40-bit") and 128-bit encryption. To enter one or more WEP keys:
What is encryption? How does
it differ from authentication?
Authentication and encryption
are two different approaches to network security. Authentication
verifies the identity of a user or device before granting access to
the network, making it more difficult for unauthorized users to get at network
resources. Encryption encodes the data being sent across the
network, making the data unintelligible to eavesdroppers. Both of these
security methods are common on wireless networks, as it is relatively easy for
eavesdroppers to monitor a wireless network's transmissions.
What is WEP? WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is an IEEE 802.11 encryption scheme that provides basic access control and data privacy on your wireless network. A WEP key is like a shared password that is used to both encrypt and decrypt wireless data communications. When a wireless network uses a WEP key, each wireless device must be configured with the same key to communicate on that network. Your network administrator should manage your network WEP keys.
How do I enter a WEP key? You enter a WEP key as a sequence of alphanumeric characters or hexadecimal digits, in the space provided on this screen. Each WEP key is either 64 or 128 bits long, and 24 bits of the key are provided automatically as an "initialization vector". That means that you need to provide the remaining bits -- 40 bits in the case of a 64-bit key, or 104 bits in the case of a 128-bit key. You do this by typing in the right number of alphanumeric characters or hexadecimal digits.
In the case of an alphanumeric key, you can enter any keyboard character. (Note that the letters are case-sensitive -- "A" is a different character from "a".) The characters are represented internally by codes that take 8 bits per character. Thus, you type in 5 alphanumeric characters to generate the 40 bits you need to supply for a 64-bit key, or 13 characters to generate the 104 bits you need to supply for a 128-bit key. The initialization vector takes care of the remaining 24 bits.
In the case of a hexadecimal key, the characters you type can be a limited set of uppercase letters (A-F) or lowercase letters (a-f), or they can be numbers (0-9). Each character represents a hexadecimal digit. (Note that the letters are not case-sensitive -- "A" is the same as "a".) The characters are represented internally by codes that take 4 bits per character. Thus, you type in 10 alphanumeric characters to generate the 40 bits you need to supply for a 64-bit key, or 26 characters to generate the 104 bits you need to supply for a 128-bit key. The initialization vector takes care of the remaining 24 bits.