WPA vs WEP - Which should you go for?

[Richman]

Hi all,

I'm new to the wireless world and jumped full into it. I want some information regarding to,

What is the difference between WEP and WAP in Wireless Network Security.

[Snake08]

What is WPA?

WiFi Protected Access (WPA) is the new security standard adopted by the WiFi Alliance consortium. WiFi compliance ensures interoperability between different manufacturer’s equipment.

WPA delivers a level of security way beyond anything that WEP can offer, bridges the gap between WEP and 802.11i networks, and has the advantage that the firmware in older equipment may be upgradeable.

How does WPA work?

WPA uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). TKIP is designed to allow WEP to be upgraded. This means that all the main building blocks of WEP are present, but corrective measures have been added to address security problems.

The weaknesses in WEP have been well publicized. TKIP’s improvements are described below.

WPA improves on WEP by the following ways :

• values can be reused and length is too short
• Master keys are used directly in WEP
• Key Management and updating is poorly provided for in WEP
• Message integrity checking is ineffective

Conclusion

WPA (TKIP) is a great solution, providing much stronger security than WEP, addressing all the weaknesses and allowing compatibility and upgrades with older equipment.

[Zachary]

One good strategy to protect a WiFi home network from electronic attacks is to enable either the WEP or WPA encryption (security) option on each device. WPA is technically superior to WEP, but some older wireless equipment doesn't support WPA, effectively preventing you from deploying it. Use WPA encryption on your WiFi network as the preferred choice but, if necessary, consider WEP as an alternative. It's better to have some encryption than none at all.

[Big Fish]

WEP is useless because it can be cracked within 5 minutes with freeware.

WPA is currently secure unless you use a poor password like "password" instead of "mf93ml8fjm29fksm9aks35cs"

[Shen]

WPA is CURRENTLY as good as it gets for the mass market home wireless encryption that comes straight out of the Windows Mob Box, so to speak. Of course you can purchase additional third party Wireless encryptors (generally Commercial purchases only) but then you run into compatibility issues with your access point/router and wireless Nic's... and dont forget about COST.

There are other things to help WPA along to be more secure such as PASSWORD Security... Change the password to your router (and make it long and change it often), change the password to your encryption (and make it long and change it often), change the password to your PC Login (and make it long and change it often), change the password to your... you get the point right.