Wireless Security FAQs

WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy
WEP is a helpful but controversial security feature for Wi-Fi home networks that scrambles wireless network traffic so it can not be easily interpreted by humans.

WPA - Wi-Fi Protected Access
The WPA wireless security standard improves on the WEP standard by supporting authentication and stronger encryption.

What Is WPA2?
WPA2 is a security technology commonly used on Wi-Fi wireless networks. WPA2 (Wireless Protected Access 2) replaced the original WPA technology and is based on the IEEE 802.11i technology standard for data encryption.

What Are WEP Keys?
A WEP key is a security code used on some WiFi wireless networks. WEP keys allow a group of devices on a local network to exchange encoded messages with each other. A WEP key is a sequence of digits and sometimes letters.

What Is a Passphrase?
A passphrase is one or a few small words chosen for use as a security setting. In computer networking, the passphrase represents a long password. In Wi-Fi home networking, the passphrase may be used to generate static WEP keys.

64-bit and 128-bit Encryption
Learn about the basics of encryption technology, the differences between 40-bit and 128-bit encryption, and how encryption translates to more secure communications on wireless networks.