Network Types

No encryption and no authentication. Every frame is in cleartext over the air.

Passwordless like Open, but each client gets a per-session encrypted link. PMF is mandatory; nothing is authenticated.

Wired Equivalent Privacy. RC4 with a 24-bit IV, cryptographically broken since 2001.

The 2003 transitional standard: TKIP over RC4, a software bridge from WEP to WPA2.

Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 with a pre-shared key (AES-CCMP). The mainstream standard, and the single highest-value capture-and-crack lab in the manual.

WPA2-PSK with fast roaming across a mobility domain. It speeds roaming, not security.

WPA2 with Wi-Fi Protected Setup. A convenience feature with a fatally weak PIN design.

SAE (Dragonfly): forward secrecy, offline-dictionary resistance, and mandatory PMF.

WPA3-SAE and WPA2-PSK on one SSID for mixed client fleets. PMF is optional.

Per-user authentication over 802.1X/EAP, validated by RADIUS against a directory.

Suite-B-192 (GCMP-256), mandatory PMF, and EAP-TLS. The strongest wireless standard.