Best Practices for Wireless/Wired LAN Implementation

I thought I throw this question for an advice. We're just about to
implement our wireless solution. After reading numerous technical
documentation cover to cover, it came down to the below questions.

Scope:
Clients - Windows(XP/2000/2003)(Primarily WinXP),Linux, MacOS X
Wireless Router/Switches/Access Point: Cisco, Nortel

RADIUS Server:
Microsoft IAS, Juniper Steel-Belted RADIUS

Authentication Server(Authenticator):
Microsoft Active Directory, Linux Server, MacOS X Server

Authentication Method:
Juniper Steel-Belted: TTLS Pass-thru, PEAP Pass-thru, Web-AAA
Microsoft IAS: PEAP-Offload, PEAP Pass-thru, Web-AAA

What I'm trying to achieve is:
1 - Have the best overall security
2 - No additional wireless client required
3 - Widely supported

My question:
Which Authentication Method is the best? Why?
Which encryption to use?


Thanks

"Tane M. Baum" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> I thought I throw this question for an advice. We're just about to
> implement our wireless solution. After reading numerous technical
> documentation cover to cover, it came down to the below questions.
>
> Scope:
> Clients - Windows(XP/2000/2003)(Primarily WinXP),Linux, MacOS X
> Wireless Router/Switches/Access Point: Cisco, Nortel
>
> RADIUS Server:
> Microsoft IAS, Juniper Steel-Belted RADIUS
>
> Authentication Server(Authenticator):
> Microsoft Active Directory, Linux Server, MacOS X Server
>
> Authentication Method:
> Juniper Steel-Belted: TTLS Pass-thru, PEAP Pass-thru, Web-AAA
> Microsoft IAS: PEAP-Offload, PEAP Pass-thru, Web-AAA
>
> What I'm trying to achieve is:
> 1 - Have the best overall security
> 2 - No additional wireless client required
> 3 - Widely supported
>
> My question:
> Which Authentication Method is the best? Why?
> Which encryption to use?
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
>
>
>

Hi Tane --

Certificate-based authentication methods are the most secure as they
protect against a large variety of possible attacks.

Because you plan on using Microsoft WS03 with IAS, the most secure method
provided with that OS is EAP-TLS. EAP-TLS provides mutual authentication
and requires certificates on IAS servers; it also requires either a
certificate in the client certificate store or the use of smartcards.

If the cost of deploying certificates is prohibitive, you can deploy
Protected EAP with MS-CHAP v2 (PEAP-MS-CHAP v2). PEAP-MS-CHAP v2 also
provides mutual authentication, where the IAS server has a server
certificate; however user authentication is performed with password-based
credentials (user name and password).

If you haven't previously seen this paper you will probably find it useful.

"The Advantages of Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP): A
Standard Approach to User Authentication for IEEE 802.11 Wireless Network
Access" http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...lyid=05951071-
6b20-4cef-9939-47c397ffd3dd&displaylang=en

And these are the companion deployment papers, which also explain how to
deploy EAP-TLS:

"Enterprise Deployment of Secure 802.11 Networks Using Microsoft Windows"
at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...y/ed80211.mspx


"Deployment of IEEE 802.1X for Wired Networks Using Microsoft Windows" at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...05951071-6b20-
4cef-9939-47c397ffd3dd&DisplayLang=en

--
James McIllece, Microsoft

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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.