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WPA-PSK Key Lifetime?

D

ddeder

Golden Member
I have a Netgear wireless router that allows me to secure the network with either a WEP key or a WPA key. It is my understanding that WEP keys are not secure at all so I want to use the WPA key. When I enter the WPA key, it tells me I must enter a value for "Key Lifetime" which is in minutes. I can enter any value between 1 and 256. I understand that this value determines how often the key is changed. I guess that the more often the key is changed, the harder it will be to crack. Knowing this, why would anyone want to set this value to a higher number? Why is there even a choice? Wouldn't it make sense for the router to just set this value to the lowest number (1 minute) and not allow it to be changed?
 
Changing the key takes processing time and bandwidth (and could (not usually) cause a minor delay while the keys are gen'd and exchanged.

Given that (with a reasonably strong key) it would take hours/days/weeks/months to break the encryption, a setting of ~ an hour or so is generally sufficient.

A strong key is long, doesn't use words you'd find in a dictionary (break 'em up with numbers and punctuation, and is not related to your name, address, phone number ... any value that could be associated with you (like if you're a Star Trek Freak ...).

Good Luck

Scott
 
the key rotation can also cause pauses in file transfers while you auth, rotate keys, and then reauth with the new key.
 
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