Planning to Deploy a WPA Network

If you haven't yet installed a wireless network, life is a little simpler. You don't have to worry about retrofitting; you can start out the right way from the beginning.

Consider isolating and canalizing your wireless equipment. You must also evaluate the equipment you'll be purchasing from the vendor. For instance, if IEEE 8802.11i RSN (based on AES) isn't out yet, can you upgrade the equipment you purchase later? Is the upgrade via software or hardware? (Most likely, it will be a hardware upgrade.) Also, look very carefully at proprietary vendor solutions. Ask to see the details of the proprietary solution, and who has evaluated it besides the vendor. If the vendor won't share the details with you or can't answer the question, think carefully before using that solution. Finally, if RSN is available, there is very little reason to use a proprietary solution unless you have a very specific need that RSN does not directly meet.

If you have a medium to large deployment, install an authentication server infrastructure to centralize user management and accounting, which we describe next. Finally, the biggest single thing that you must do is to turn off support for WEP. As long as WEP is enabled, you are susceptible to a down-grade attack, in other words, an attacker can associate using WEP and crack the key (see Chapter 15).



Real 802.11 Security(c) Wi-Fi Protected Access and 802.11i
Real 802.11 Security: Wi-Fi Protected Access and 802.11i
ISBN: 0321136209
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 151

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