Change from WEP to WPA?

When I asked for help from Linksys tech support on setting up security, they
directed me to WEP-64. I understand now that WPA is better. Is that true?

Is it difficult to change from WEP to WPA? Are they any downsides? If
none, why would Linksys do this?

Thanks for any help.

On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:03:28 -0400, "Les"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>When I asked for help from Linksys tech support on setting up security, they
>directed me to WEP-64. I understand now that WPA is better. Is that true?

Linksys support is wrong. WPA was invented to do damage control on
the inadequacies of WEP. At this time, WEP can be cracked in a few
seconds. WPA and WPA2 have yet to be cracked for long and obscure
passwords. WEP also has a nasty bug of sorts, where the conversion
from the ASCII key to a Hex key is done in one of 3 incompatible ways.
>Is it difficult to change from WEP to WPA? Are they any downsides?
If
>none, why would Linksys do this?

Hang on. Let me fire up my crystal ball. (whrrrr....). I see a
router. It has an antenna. That's about all I can tell from here. I
gotta get my crystal ball recharged. Meanwhile, it would probably be
more useful if you would disclose the maker and model number of your
wireless router. Extra credit for the hardware revision (on the
serial number tag).

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Les wrote:
> When I asked for help from Linksys tech support on setting up security, they
> directed me to WEP-64. I understand now that WPA is better. Is that true?
>
> Is it difficult to change from WEP to WPA? Are they any downsides? If
> none, why would Linksys do this?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
>

Some older stuff (such as the Nintendo DS) only supports WEP. If you have
such old stuff, you may need to replace it to use WPA. But, given a
choice, WPA is *much* more secure than WEP.
--
Cheers, Bob

The router is 3 yrs old, Linksys model WRK54G, no revision no.


"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:03:28 -0400, "Les"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>When I asked for help from Linksys tech support on setting up security,
>>they
>>directed me to WEP-64. I understand now that WPA is better. Is that
>>true?
>
> Linksys support is wrong. WPA was invented to do damage control on
> the inadequacies of WEP. At this time, WEP can be cracked in a few
> seconds. WPA and WPA2 have yet to be cracked for long and obscure
> passwords. WEP also has a nasty bug of sorts, where the conversion
> from the ASCII key to a Hex key is done in one of 3 incompatible ways.
>>Is it difficult to change from WEP to WPA? Are they any downsides?
> If
>>none, why would Linksys do this?
>
> Hang on. Let me fire up my crystal ball. (whrrrr....). I see a
> router. It has an antenna. That's about all I can tell from here. I
> gotta get my crystal ball recharged. Meanwhile, it would probably be
> more useful if you would disclose the maker and model number of your
> wireless router. Extra credit for the hardware revision (on the
> serial number tag).
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:51:26 -0400, "Les"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>The router is 3 yrs old, Linksys model WRK54G, no revision no.

The WRK54G supports WPA encryption. I suggest you use it.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 (E-Mail Removed)
# http://802.11junk.com (E-Mail Removed)
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS

Thanks for the advise. I have read that WPA is much better, so I was
surprised that Linksys had me use WEP..

When I go on the internet vis my brouser to the site to make any chnages, in
addition to WEP, I see 2 different WPA choices - WPA Pre-shared key and WPA
RADIUS. What is the difference, and which one is preferable? (I am
surprised that there is no just WPA".


"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:51:26 -0400, "Les"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>The router is 3 yrs old, Linksys model WRK54G, no revision no.
>
> The WRK54G supports WPA encryption. I suggest you use it.
>
> --
> # Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
> # 831-336-2558 (E-Mail Removed)
> # http://802.11junk.com (E-Mail Removed)
> # http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:02:18 -0400, Les wrote:

> Thanks for the advise. I have read that WPA is much better, so I was
> surprised that Linksys had me use WEP..
>
> When I go on the internet vis my brouser to the site to make any
> chnages, in addition to WEP, I see 2 different WPA choices - WPA
> Pre-shared key and WPA RADIUS. What is the difference, and which one is
> preferable? (I am surprised that there is no just WPA".
>
>
RADIUS is preferable. But you'll need a separate RADIUS server ($$).

Since you are even asking the question, you want pre-shared key (PSK)
(requires you to enter the same key into each device). For security, be
sure to use a long pass phrase.

Your surprise is due to the fact that there's little discussion of RADIUS
on this group, which is more focused on the SOHO environment. I would
think your router documentation has some explanation, if it's an
available option.

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:02:18 -0400, "Les"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Thanks for the advise. I have read that WPA is much better, so I was
>surprised that Linksys had me use WEP..
>
>When I go on the internet vis my brouser to the site to make any chnages, in
>addition to WEP, I see 2 different WPA choices - WPA Pre-shared key and WPA
>RADIUS. What is the difference, and which one is preferable? (I am
>surprised that there is no just WPA".

Actually, you have a few more decisions to make.

Your choices are:
WPA PSK (pre-shared key) with TKIP encryption
WPA2 PSK (pre-shared key) with TKIP encryption
WPA2 PSK (pre-shared key) with AES encryption
WPA-PSK is also known as WPA personal depending on whether your
religion follows the IEEE or the Wi-Fi Alliance religion.

WPA-RADIUS is also known as WPA-Enterprise, again according to your
religious preferences. It requires a RADIUS server or RADIUS service
provider. See the FAQ at:
<http://wireless.navas.us/wiki/Wi-Fi_How_To#WPA.2FWPA2>
(note the new URL). The only service I've tried is:
<http://www.linksys.com/wirelessguard/>
which runs on limited hardware and was a bit overpriced.

I've considered throwing together a stand along RADIUS server to do
the same thing, but the minimum sales price came out far too high.
Some wireless routers have RADIUS servers built in.

Why go through all this trouble for RADIUS? Well, a RADIUS server
provides:
1. A login and password unique to each user.
2. No shared key that can be leaked.
3. A unique encryption key that is only used once per session.
4. Authentication (X.509).

That's good enough unless you wanna add a VPN (virtual private
network) or build an NAC (Network Access Control) system:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Access_Control>

I recommend WPA2-PSK-TKIP for home systems. No particular reason
other than there seem to fewer buggy drivers for TKIP than for AES.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 (E-Mail Removed)
# http://802.11junk.com (E-Mail Removed)
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>No particular reason
>other than there seem to fewer buggy drivers for TKIP than for AES.
>
Jeff, I have to confess that when I read your sentence, my first thought was
"What does this have to do with the Amish folks?"

Art

On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:46:32 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) (Arthur
Shapiro) wrote:

>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
>>No particular reason
>>other than there seem to fewer buggy drivers for TKIP than for AES.

>Jeff, I have to confess that when I read your sentence, my first thought was
>"What does this have to do with the Amish folks?"
>Art

Ummm.... well.... now that you mention it, it's quite possible that
the driver was written by a horse.

A buggy driver does tend to crash quite often:
<http://www.johnson-county.com/images/Ambulance/rescue01.jpg>
<http://www.worth1000.com/search.asp?search=amish+buggy>
(registration required, but well worth it).




--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 (E-Mail Removed)
# http://802.11junk.com (E-Mail Removed)
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS