Any 802.11i laptop cards yet?

May not be in the US yet, but go to

That was an article from back in October of 2004 saying they will be made, right hand side is a product locater.

There are several 802.11i ready cards, netgear wag11, dlink dwl650, proxim orinoco gold and silvers are a few. The only thing 802.11i provides that WPA didnt is AES encryption. Most cards have an AES encrytpion option and can be used but the encryption may be done through software. The later cards have added a hardware encrytion processor to speed things up. Regular ole WPA using 802.1x and the RC4 encryption (which has nevr been cracked) is probably just as secure but goverment agencies require AES, thus AES.

It's not clear to me that you need a special NIC to use 802.11i, although a special AP is probably required.

802.11i is not a modulation scheme, and so does not replace 802.11a or 802.11g. 802.11i is a security protocol that is used in conjunction with 802.11a or 802.11g. 802.11i uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which requires more CPU power than WEP or WPA version 1. Some existing APs won't have the horsepower. Network Interface Cards (NICs) may be a different story. If the processor on the NIC is too wimpy, a vendor could have the system CPU do the encryption instead. Only time will tell if any manufacturers actually do that. History tells us that they won't, since almost no manufacturers produced new firmware to support WPA on 802.11b NICs or APs, despite the fact that WPAv1 was specifically designed so that older processors could keep up. They would rather force your product into obsolescence to make another sale.

802.11i, which I believe is the same thing as WPA version 2, will require you to have an Authentication Server, like RADIUS. This is really intended as an enterprise solution, and not for homes. Just as with WPAv1, I imagine that you'll not only need a compliant AP and a compliant NIC driver, but you'll probably also need a compliant OS (supplicant). A quick search on Microsoft's site didn't make clear what is their readiness for 802.11i.

Ron Bandes CCNP, CISSP, CTT+, etc.

(AES), which

different

802.11b NICs

search on

802.11i.

Linksys, Netgear, 3Com, DLink all have cards that support 802.11i (WPA2). As with WPA there is both a Passphrase and a Radius option. The main difference in WPA and WPA2 is the AES encrption which is allready supported on many cards. As mentioned though the WPA2 cards may have another processor to handle the encrypting.

Having done a little more homework, I can share this distinction between WPA2 and 802.11i: WPA2 is the approved Wi-Fi Alliance (wi-fi.org) interoperable implementation of 802.11i. WPA2 implements the MANDATORY elements of 802.11i. The Wi-Fi Alliance has been certifying products for WPA2 since 1 Sept. 2004. WPA2 does have both Personal and Enterprise versions; a product may be certified for one or for both. The Personal version does not require an authentication server like RADIUS.

Ron Bandes CCNP, CISSP, CTT+, etc.