WPA use AES or TKIP ?

boran

Golden Member
Jun 17, 2001
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Hi, now I've switched to windowsXP I finally have the option to use WPA instead of WEP, but now I'm not sure which WPA to use, TKIP or AES. which of the two has higher security or what is the general difference between these two. Thanks in advance.

Boran.
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
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TKIP uses RC4.

AES is its own encryption meachanism.

AES is stronger, but more processor intensive.

-edit- too much alphabet soup confuses spidey.
 

stash

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2000
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Are the differences in processor utiltization between TKIP and AES really that apparent? AES is an extremely fast symmetric algorithm, so I wouldn't think it it would be noticable.

That said, I don't know much about wireless implementations of AES. But if you look at different versions of Windows EFS, for example, there is a negligible change in perf when moving DES to 3DES to 256-bit AES (the default in XP SP1+)
 

stash

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2000
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Umm...I knew that. That wasn't my question ;)

You said that AES is more processor intensive than TKIP. I am wondering if it would be really noticable, given that AES is a fast algorithm.
 

n0cmonkey

Elite Member
Jun 10, 2001
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Originally posted by: STaSh
Umm...I knew that. That wasn't my question ;)

You said that AES is more processor intensive than TKIP. I am wondering if it would be really noticable, given that AES is a fast algorithm.

I don't know if it makes much difference in this situation, but RC4 is supposed to be FAST.
 

stash

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2000
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Well that depends. RC4 is very fast in hardware, but slower in software, which is the opposite of most stream ciphers.

AES is an extremely efficient block cipher in both hardware and software and is faster than DES or 3DES, which is why I question a perf hit going from RC4 to AES.
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
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Originally posted by: STaSh
Well that depends. RC4 is very fast in hardware, but slower in software, which is the opposite of most stream ciphers.

AES is an extremely efficient block cipher in both hardware and software and is faster than DES or 3DES, which is why I question a perf hit going from RC4 to AES.

Well my guess would be it depends on the card.
 

ScottMac

Moderator<br>Networking<br>Elite member
Mar 19, 2001
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Most hardware that supports AES is using hardware acceleration / encryption processors.

OP: Either is fine (TKIP or AES), AES as a security suite is probably better, as long as all of your hardware/software supports it.

FWIW

Scott
 

orion23

Platinum Member
Oct 1, 2003
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I have a netgear router which offers the option for WPA AES or TKIP.

Since it supports WPA AES, does it make this router WPA 2 ready?

I ask because Netgear doesn't mention WPA 2 support anywhere
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
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Originally posted by: orion23
I have a netgear router which offers the option for WPA AES or TKIP.

Since it supports WPA AES, does it make this router WPA 2 ready?

I ask because Netgear doesn't mention WPA 2 support anywhere
You might say that the Current WPA AES that you have is the Netgear version of the pre-WPA2.

Would it be totally compatible with the final implantation of WPA2?

We do not know yet since there is No Final yet.

:sun:
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
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Originally posted by: spidey07
I believe WPA only does TKIP. WPA2 added AES.
WPA had AES as an optional feature. Now manditory in WPA2, as I understand it. Most Broadcom-based reference designs (Linksys WRT54G, Motorola WR850G, some Netgear and Belkin models), have hardware accelleration support for AES onboard, and offer it for WPA-PSK mode. Non-Broadcom designs may only offer TKIP (RC4) for WPA-PSK mode, as that was all that was required.