Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rebmetpes]

I bought a wireless router, Icarus BW740 but manual is in Korean and I havent done this before. I want to set the WEP key. Anybody who can help me with it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[corroonb]

Is the router's interface in Korea? If so I can't help.

If not its relatively simple but you shoulld use WPA as its more secure. Both can be hacked relatively easily but WPA will deter casual hackers.

Go to your router's IP address , it varies depending on the brand. Google router address + the brand.

Go into the wireless menu and you can enable WEP or WPA there. You might have to enable expert mode.

If you have any questions just ask.

[rebmetpes]

Thanks for the info. I have another question. Which one should I use, WPA or WPA-PSK? What is the difference? Could I enable both WEP and WPA? thanks again

[corroonb]

WPA-PSK is the only one you should use as WEP is insecure. The other WPA - 802.1x option is limited to businesses and organisations so you won't be able to use it. PSK just means passkey whick you can choose.

[Demophobe]

WPA-PSK = WiFi Protected Access-Pre-Shared Key

PSK allows the system to automatically scramble the password (using TKIP - Temporal Key Integrity Protocol - which scrambles the keys and uses an integrity checking system to see that the key hasn't been messed with) in order to keep it secure.

You are right in recommending it though.

[corroonb]

Isn't Pre Shared Key exactly the same thing as a pass key?

Pre-shared key mode (PSK, also known as personal mode) is designed for home and small office networks that cannot afford the cost and complexity of an 802.1X authentication server. Each user must enter a passphrase to access the network. The passphrase may be from 8 to 63 ASCII characters or 64 hexadecimal digits (256 bits). If you choose to use the ASCII characters, a hash function reduces it from 504 bits (63 characters * 8 bits/character) to 256 bits (using also the SSID). The passphrase may be stored on the user's computer at their discretion under most operating systems to avoid re-entry. The passphrase must remain stored in the Wi-Fi access point.

I.E a key that is shared before (pre) to setting up the wireless connection.

Great contribution though.



WPA = Wi-Fi Protected Access

Data is encrypted using the RC4 stream cipher, with a 128-bit key and a 48-bit initialization vector (IV). One major improvement in WPA over WEP is the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), which dynamically changes keys as the system is used. When combined with the much larger IV, this defeats the well-known key recovery attacks on WEP.

In addition to authentication and encryption, WPA also provides vastly improved payload integrity. The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) used in WEP is inherently insecure; it is possible to alter the payload and update the message CRC without knowing the WEP key. A more secure message authentication code (usually known as a MAC, but here termed a MIC for "Message Integrity Code") is used in WPA, an algorithm named "Michael". The MIC used in WPA includes a frame counter, which prevents replay attacks being executed;

By increasing the size of the keys and IVs, reducing the number of packets sent with related keys, and adding a secure message verification system, WPA makes breaking into a Wireless LAN far more difficult. The Michael algorithm was the strongest that WPA designers could come up with that would still work with most older network cards. Due to inevitable weaknesses of Michael, WPA includes a special countermeasure mechanism that detects an attempt to break TKIP and temporarily blocks communications with the attacker.



WEP = Wired Equivalent Privacy

Standard 64-bit WEP uses a 40 bit key, which is concatenated to a 24-bit initialization vector (IV) to form the RC4 traffic key. At the time that the original WEP standard was being drafted, U.S. Government export restrictions on cryptographic technology limited the keysize. Once the restrictions were lifted, all of the major manufacturers eventually implemented an extended 128-bit WEP protocol using a 104-bit key size.

A 128-bit WEP key is almost always entered by users as a string of 26 Hexadecimal (Hex) characters (0-9 and A-F). Each character represents 4 bits of the key. 4 � 26 = 104 bits; adding the 24-bit IV brings us what we call a "128-bit WEP key". A 256-bit WEP system is available from some vendors, and as with the above-mentioned system, 24 bits of that is for the I.V., leaving 232 actual bits for protection. This is typically entered as 58 Hexadecimal characters. (58 � 4 = 232 bits) + 24 I.V. bits = 256 bits of WEP protection.

Key size is not the only major security limitation in WEP. Cracking a longer key requires interception of more packets, but there are active attacks that stimulate the necessary traffic. There are other weaknesses in WEP, including the possibility of IV collisions and altered packets, that are not helped at all by a longer key. See stream cipher attack.


Does any of that make any difference?

All he needs to know is that WPA = Okay and WEP = Worse and WPA2 = best. If he's asking these questions its reasonale to assume he's a beginner or a novice and most people don't find this interesting. But hey what do I know, my advice was probably nonsense but I meant well.

[Demophobe]

Your advice was good, but the other facts were not quite right.

I think it's important with tech that we try to be as correct and precise as possible. I'm not trying to be a know-it-all or a jerk, but these things aren't based on opinion, they are based on facts.

Terminology is paramount and precise information should be given, if any at all.

It would have been enough to say that one protocol is more secure than the other. I think you knew this to be factual and you were correct. To follow it up with misinformation is what I object to.

I only stick my nose into threads where I have facts and knowledge to offer. I didn't join this thread because I am no router/networking guru, but I do know terminology, and that's all I pointed out.

Being as this isn't the first time I have seemingly jumped on you, it may seem I am hounding you. This is not the case; I think that we all have knowledge in different areas, and that is where we should focus when assisting others. I just want to see clear, correct solutions posted, and even the apparently trivial things, such as mistaken terminology, can lead to misunderstandings and the dissemination of incorrect information.

Does your additional info make a difference? Not to me, but it may have to the OP. More info is better, so long as it's written in a way that a novice can understand it. Your last post is overkill.

Sorry if I come across like a jerk.

[Bulsajo]

[Demophobe]

Waaaaaahhhhh....

I do have a life, you know....

[Bulsajo]

Q: Wanna know why Soylent Pink tastes so funny?








A: It's made of clowns.

[corroonb]

You do come across as a bit condescending or patronising but not as a jerk.

pedant= indicating someone overly concerned with minutiae and detail and whose tone is perceived as condescending.

I don't mean to be a jerk but that is how your behaviour came across.

I didn't think it necessary to explain the acronym as I had not explained WEP or WPA.

I explained PSK as a passkey, I did not mean to imply that the acronym stood for passkey but that it meant the same thing as passkey.

I should have been more precise but this isn't an academic paper and anybody who knows a bit about networking will know about WPA-PSK and WPA-802.1x.

I see you didn't bother explaining that last particular bit of terminology which I didn't clarify.

[Demophobe]

[Demophobe]

[rebmetpes]

can anybody give me some info about lease time? my router wont connect. and i cannot renew the lease time. thanks

[ulsanchris]

Bump

rebmetpes are you happy with this router? i am in the market for one and the icarus caught my eye because it is cheap, and on the box it says it works with macs (i figure most routers would anyways but just to be safe). but i am wondering if the icarus BW-740 is any good.