Question

difference between Open system / Preshared key WEP

Asked by: mkrisz

Dear EE experts,

What is the difference EXACTPLY between Open system + WEP and Preshared key + WEP?

Thanks,
Chris

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Asked On
2009-09-26 at 06:24:50ID24763931
Tags

open

,

system

,

preshared

,

key

,

wep

Topics

Wireless Technologies

,

Wireless Networking

,

Wireless Network Access Points

Participating Experts
2
Points
334
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: PriceDPosted on 2009-09-26 at 06:29:46ID: 25429790

 

by: PriceDPosted on 2009-09-26 at 06:30:29ID: 25429793

 

by: PriceDPosted on 2009-09-26 at 06:31:11ID: 25429796

 

by: mkriszPosted on 2009-09-26 at 07:14:36ID: 25429877

Ok, look. I think you all misunderstood something. I know what is the difference between an open system (anyone can connect) and a shared key system. I have a router which offers me open system and with the open system setting chosen I STILL can choose to enable WEP encryption. This is what I don't understand. What is the dirreference if I select open system+wep or shared key+wep?

 

by: mkriszPosted on 2009-09-26 at 07:14:54ID: 25429879

Please not post links. Please post the answer itself since it is short.

 

by: sarangk_14Posted on 2009-09-26 at 08:26:40ID: 25430069

Hi,
A really simple answer would be as follows:

- Open system and Pre-shared (or shared) key are the two types of authetication mechanisms used with WEP.
- In Open system authetication, the client does not need the WEP key to authenticate and associate with the AP. The WEP key is required only when when the client start using the AP to exchange data (using the network/ Internet).
- In Pre-shared key (PSK) authentication, the WEP client needs to provide the WEP key to the AP while authenticaing with it. It uses a simple "4 way challenge-response handshake" for this purpose (I hope hope you know what that is). After the authentication and association, WEP can be used for encrypting the data frames.

In case you are wondering which one is more secure, the following might be useful:
- While simply looking at the definitions, it may seem like the PSK authetication is more secure, in reality it is the other way round.
- In PSK, while using a simple challenge- response handshake, the AP sends the challenge in clear-text. This allows any attacker to capture that challenge and corresponding response from the client, and attack the same. (Basically it's easier to distinguish the challenge frame)
- In Open authentication, the key is required after the authetication and association, and only when the client tries to exchange data using the AP. This reduces (although only slightly) the likelihood of the key compromise.
 
Hope this helps.

Additional information can be provided through links to other articles.

Warm regards,
Sarang

 

by: mkriszPosted on 2009-09-26 at 08:28:58ID: 31633916

Perfect.

 

by: sarangk_14Posted on 2009-09-26 at 08:29:45ID: 25430076

Also, if it's not clear from my earlier post,  the difference between Open system + WEP and Preshared key + WEP is that while both use the WEP to encrypt the data, the authetication mechanism used is different: Open and Pre-shared Key respectively.

Warm regards,

Sarang

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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