AES vs TKIP for Wireless Encryption
Thursday August 21, 2008
Most modern Wi-Fi home networking equipment supports WPA wireless security (and often the newer, improved WPA2). When setting up your network with WPA, you will see several options to choose from, typically including a choice of encryption method - AES or TKIP. Which one of these is better?
→ More - Securing Your Wireless Network - Encryption and Authentication (netsecurity.about.com)
AES offers stronger encryption technology and is the right choice (assuming all of the devices on your network support it). However, TKIP is also strong and tends to be supported by more equipment on the market. Either is far preferable to using no encryption at all, but consider AES first and TKIP as a reasonable backup option.
→ See Also - Top 10 Tips for Wireless Network Security→ More - Securing Your Wireless Network - Encryption and Authentication (netsecurity.about.com)
Comments
Now, with the checksum weakness discovered in TKIP, AES is the clear choice for best security.
See also About.com Network Security coverage of the recent crack – WPA Encryption Cracked
This title should read either “AES vs. RC4″ or “CCMP vs. TKIP.” The former are encryption methods; the latter are protocols. (CCMP uses AES, etc.) Similarly, the text mixes these distinctions up.