Setting Up Home Wireless Security

Home > Setting Up Wireless Security > Setting Up Home Wireless Security

Setting Up Wireless Security for Home Networks

Overview

To make your wireless connection more secure, choose the strongest security settings supported by the AP or wireless router to which you are connected. For home and small business networks, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and WEP are common security methods, and WAPI-PSK is a possible alternative.

Supported Security Methods

The following table shows the authentication and encryption methods supported by the Mediatek Utility.

Authentication Method	Encryption Method	Comments
WPA2-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 - Pre-Shared Key) WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access - Pre-Shared Key)	AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol)	WPA2-PSK is a faster, more recent standard than WPA-PSK. AES is a stronger, more recent standard than TKIP.
Open Shared	WEP (Wireless Encrypted Privacy)	WEP is an older standard and is easily decrypted. If using WEP select Open as the authentication method for slightly stronger security.

Note: WAPI-PSK authentication with SMS4 encryption is also available, however, at the time of writing, it is a new Chinese standard and has yet to be made an ISO standard.

Instructions

To configure security settings on your network connection, use the profile function in the Mediatek Utility.

Click the Profile Settings button to display the Profile List screen.
To configure a wireless security profile, click the Add button to add a new profile, or click the Edit button to edit an existing profile.
In the screen that displays, enter the following settings.
1. For 'Profile Name', type a name for the profile, or leave at its default value.
2. In the SSID field, type the name of the network for which you are configuring security settings, or select the name of the network from the drop-down list provided.
3. For 'Network Type', select whether your network is an infrastructure or ad hoc network. If uncertain, leave at its default setting (Infrastructure).
  - Select 'Infrastructure - Connect to AP' if you are connecting to a typical wireless network maintained by an AP or wireless router.
  - Alternatively, select 'Ad Hoc - Connect to other computers' if you are connecting to a distributed network with no AP or router.
Click the right arrow to save your settings. For instructions on setting up a security method, click on the corresponding link.
- WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK
- WEP
- WAPI-PSK
- Setting Up WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK
  1. For Authentication, select WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK and for Encryption, select TKIP or AES. Click the right arrow to save your settings.
  2. For 'WPA Preshared Key', type a passphrase 8-63 characters long made up of characters '0'-'9', 'a'-'z', 'A'-'Z', keyboard symbols and spaces. Click the right arrow to save your settings and finish setting up WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK security.
  Setting Up WEP
  1. For Authentication, select Open or Shared, and for Encryption select WEP. Click the right arrow to save your settings.
  2. In the screen that appears select a Key and Key Format setting supported by the wireless router or AP to which you are connecting.
    - If you select 'Hex(10 or 26 hex digits)', in the WEP Key field type a security key 10 or 26 characters long made up of digits '0'-'9' and letters 'A'-'F'.
    - If you select 'ASCII(5 or 13 ASCII characters)' in the WEP Key field, type a security key 5 or 13 characters long made up of digits '0'-'9' and letters 'a'-'z' and 'A'-'Z'.
  3. Click the right arrow to save your settings and finish setting up WEP security.
  Setting Up WAPI-PSK
  1. For Authentication, select WAPI-PSK and for Encryption, select SMS4. Click the right arrow to save your settings.
  2. In the screen that appears select a Key and Key Format setting supported by the wireless router or AP to which you are connecting.
    - If, in the "Key Format" field, you select 'Hex(8 ~ 64 hex digits)', then in the 'WPA Preshared Key' field type a security key 8-64 characters long made up of digits '0'-'9' and letters 'A'-'F'.
    - If, in the "Key Format" field, you select 'ASCII(8 ~ 64 ASCII characters)' in the 'WPA Preshared Key' field, type a security key 8-64 characters long made up of digits '0'-'9' and letters 'a'-'z' and 'A'-'Z'.
  3. Click the right arrow to save your settings and finish setting up WAPI-PSK security.
With WEP, WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK security, you can select 'Use Pre-logon Connection' to automatically connect using the settings of this profile when logging in to Windows.
After you have set up security settings, it appears in the Profile Settings screen. To further edit settings, click the Edit button , or to delete settings, click the delete button .