Gateway 7001 Series User Manual

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Static Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a data encryption protocol for 802.11 wireless 
networks. Both access points in a given WDS link must be configured with the same 
security settings. For static WEP, either a static 64-bit (40-bit secret key + 24-bit initialization 
vector (IV)) or 128-bit (104-bit secret key + 24-bit IV) Shared Key is specified for data 
encryption.

You can enable Static WEP on the WDS link (bridge). When WEP is enabled, all data 
exchanged between the two access points in a WDS link is encrypted using a fixed WEP 
key that you provide.

Static WEP is the only security mode available for the WDS link, and it does not provide 
effective data protection to the level of other security modes available for service to client 
stations. If you use WDS on a LAN intended for secure wireless traffic you are putting your 
network at risk. Therefore, we recommend using WDS to bridge the guest network only 
for this release. Do not use WDS to bridge access points on the internal network unless 
you are not concerned about the security risk for data traffic on that network.

For more information about the effectiveness of different security modes, see 

. This topic also covers use of plain text security mode for 

AP-to-station traffic on the guest network, which is intended for less sensitive data traffic.

To specify the details of traffic exchange from this access point to others, click 

 on the Administration Web page. The Configure WDS bridges 

to other access points screen opens. Update the boxes as described in the following section.