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What security settings to choose for the router. How does WiFi protection work? Difference between WPA2, WPA, WEP Wi-Fi protocols

Often, users have problems connecting to the Internet when the network is active, but the signal is not heard. The device tries to connect to the access point, but the message “WPA protection saved” appears and as a result there is no connection.

Sometimes it happens that the device connects to the network, but in fact the Internet distribution does not work

What to do about it? In most cases, problems do not concern the phone or tablet, Android devices, but the router itself. There are several ways to change its settings to make it work correctly and have a good connection with your equipment.

Sometimes, to solve a connection problem when “WPA protection saved” is displayed, it is enough to reboot the Wi-Fi point and reconnect to it. There is probably simply a problem with the router that can be easily fixed by restarting it.

Another possible reason associated with the incorrect operation of the equipment may be due to the fact that its firmware is outdated. Download the most current firmware for the router from the manufacturer’s website and upload the file to the settings menu.

The settings open like this: enter the router’s IP address into the address bar of any browser, enter the value “Admin” instead of the login and password if you have not changed them.

After logging in, update your hardware. Even if the issue is not with the firmware, it is always useful to install a new version once again, because by releasing it, the manufacturer corrects all previous problems.

Regional settings

Access to the network may be unavailable for a trivial reason - the region where you live is incorrectly set in the equipment.

To find out, go to the router settings, select the Wireless section, the Wireless Settings line (for TP-Link brand models) and check which region is indicated in the line with the same name. If the data is incorrect, correct it.

If you have a router of a different brand, look for this data in the section where, in addition to the region, the device name and connection parameters are specified.

Password problems

Checking the correctness of the key

In some cases, the line “WPA Security Saved” appears if you entered the wrong password when connecting. To reset it, click on the network icon, select “Delete”, then reconnect and enter the correct combination.

Changing the password and encryption type

It is likely that the device you are using to connect to Wi-Fi does not understand the password or its encryption type. These parameters can be changed in the hardware settings.

To do this on TP-Link brand models, go to the Wireless menu, select the Wireless Security tab. Here you will change the password - try to create a combination consisting of only numbers. Below, select the encryption method - it is best to select WPA/WPA2 - Personal (Recommended), set the type to AES.

Don't forget to save the changes, reboot and reconnect to Wi-Fi from your gadget. Please note that when you set a new password and change settings, you will need to change the data on the remaining devices that previously connected to this wireless connection.

Changing the operating mode

There is often no connection due to the fact that the phone, tablet or other equipment does not support the router’s operating mode. There are three such modes, all of them are called by the Latin letters b, g, n. If the router is set to work in n mode, and the gadget does not support it, then you will not be able to connect them.

Therefore, conduct an experiment: change the way the device operates, for which you must perform the following steps:

  • Go to the equipment settings, use the previously mentioned Wireless section, Wireless Settings tab.
  • Stop at the line called Mode.
  • Now you have to choose a different mode - use the option with all three letters - b, g, n - so that you can connect to Wi-Fi from all devices operating in at least one of these modes.

There are many dangerous risks associated with wireless protocols and encryption methods. Thus, the robust design of various wireless security protocols is used to minimize them. These wireless security protocols provide prevention of unauthorized access to computers by encrypting transmitted data on a wireless network.

Difference between WPA2, WPA, WEP Wi-Fi protocols

Most wireless access points have the option to enable one of three wireless encryption standards:

  1. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)
  2. WPA2

WEP or Wired Equivalent Privacy

The first wireless security network was WEP or Wired Equivalent Privacy protocol. It started with 64-bit encryption (weak) and eventually went all the way to 256-bit encryption (strong). The most popular implementation in routers is still 128-bit encryption (in-between). This was considered as a possible solution until security researchers discovered several vulnerabilities in it, allowing hackers to crack the WEP key within minutes. He used CRC or Cyclic Redundancy Check.

WPA or Wi-Fi Protected Access

To address the shortcomings of WEP, WPA was developed as a new security standard for wireless protocols. To ensure message integrity, he used integrity protocolTKIP or Temporal Key Integrity. This was different from WEP in some ways, which used CRC or Cyclic Redundancy Check. TKIP was thought to be much stronger than CRC. Its use ensured that each data packet was transmitted using a unique encryption key. The key combination increased the difficulty of decoding the keys and thereby reduced the number of intrusions from outside. However, like WEP, WPA also had a disadvantage. Thus, WPA was extended in WPA 2.

WPA2

WPA 2 is currently recognized as the most secure protocol. One of the most important changes visible between WPA and WPA2 is the mandatory use of algorithms AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and introduction CCMP (Counter Cipher Mode with Blockchain Authentication Code Protocol) as a replacement for TKIP. CCM mode combines Confidentiality Mode (CTR) and Chain Code Authentication (CBC-MAC) for authentication. These modes have been widely studied and have proven to have well-understood cryptographic properties that provide good security and performance in software or hardware today.

With the spread of wireless networks, the WPA and WPA2 encryption protocols have become known to almost all owners of devices connecting to Wi-Fi. They are indicated in the connection properties, and attract minimal attention from most users who are not system administrators. It is quite enough to know that WPA2 is an evolution of WPA, and therefore WPA2 is newer and more suitable for modern networks.

Definition

WPA is an encryption protocol designed to protect wireless networks of the IEEE 802.11 standard, developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance in 2003 as a replacement for the outdated and insecure WEP protocol.

WPA2- an encryption protocol that is an improved development of WPA, introduced in 2004 by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Comparison

Finding the difference between WPA and WPA2 is not relevant for most users, since all wireless network protection comes down to choosing a more or less complex access password. Today the situation is such that all devices operating in Wi-Fi networks are required to support WPA2, so the choice of WPA can only be determined by non-standard situations. For example, operating systems older than Windows XP SP3 do not support WPA2 without applying patches, so machines and devices managed by such systems require the attention of a network administrator. Even some modern smartphones may not support the new encryption protocol; this mainly applies to off-brand Asian gadgets. On the other hand, some versions of Windows older than XP do not support working with WPA2 at the GPO level, so in this case they require more fine-tuned network connections.

The technical difference between WPA and WPA2 is the encryption technology, in particular, the protocols used. WPA uses the TKIP protocol, WPA2 uses the AES protocol. In practice, this means that the more modern WPA2 provides a higher degree of network security. For example, the TKIP protocol allows you to create an authentication key up to 128 bits in size, AES - up to 256 bits.

Conclusions website

  1. WPA2 is an improvement over WPA.
  2. WPA2 uses the AES protocol, WPA uses the TKIP protocol.
  3. WPA2 is supported by all modern wireless devices.
  4. WPA2 may not be supported by older operating systems.
  5. WPA2 has a higher security level than WPA.

Users of tablet computers and Android phones often encounter this problem: the device does not connect to Wi-Fi, although you have entered the correct password. The message appears: " ". What to do in such cases?

First, make sure that the access point you are currently connecting to actually distributes the Internet. To do this, try connecting to it using other devices (laptop, tablet, etc.). If there is Internet on these devices, it means that the access point is working and the reason for the lack of Internet is different.

There may be several reasons (for example, an incorrectly entered password or a weak Internet signal), but we will look at the most common ones.

Problem with Wi-Fi due to router settings.

Changing the Wi-Fi channel of the router:

  • go to the advanced settings of the router,
  • change the channel to another, confirming your action by pressing the “Apply” or “OK” button,
  • exit the router settings and try connecting the device to the Internet.

Often such a simple operation solves the problem with the Wi-Fi connection. If connection does not occur, try the following.

Change the wireless mode in the router settings.

By default, most routers set the settings to 802.11 b/g/n mixed mode. Select another mode: 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11g. After each mode change, click the "Apply" button and check for Wi-Fi connection.

If this does not help and the Android device still does not pick up Wi-Fi and the Internet does not work, you will have to “work” with the settings of your smartphone (tablet).

The problem is in the Wi-Fi connection settings on the device (tablet, smartphone).

Algorithm for setting up Wi-Fi and Internet connections on Android:

  1. go to “Settings” of your smartphone (tablet),
  2. turn on Wi-Fi,
  3. select the network you are trying to connect to without success,
  4. press and hold the icon of this network with your finger: a message will appear on the screen prompting you to delete or change the network,
  5. select the "Change network" option,
  6. after a window appears with the words “Show password” or “Show additional options”, check the box offering to show “additional options”,
  7. Check the “Proxy server settings” and “IP settings” indicators that appear. The “NO” option must be selected in the proxy settings. Sometimes, for various reasons, the “MANUAL” option is set in this field, which interferes with your successful Internet connection. If you change the proxy settings to “NO”, in most cases Wi-Fi starts working.

Incorrectly set date on Android device.

  1. go to general settings and select the “Date and time” option in the “System” item,
  2. uncheck the “Auto-set date and time” and “Auto-set time zone” system suggestions,
  3. Set the correct date on your device to match the current time.

If these methods do not help, the lack of connection may be due to technical reasons. A weak smartphone, tablet, old version of Android OS or a very weak Internet signal - all this can affect the stability of Wi-Fi and the Internet.