Wireless (Personal)
Overview
Brother devices support both personal and enterprise level securities. This page is for configuring personal, or home level, settings.
Communication Mode
There are two types of wireless networks: Infrastructure mode and Ad-hoc
Infrastructure
Infrastructure mode networks have a central access point, usually a wireless router, at the heart of the network. It is through this central access point that all jobs are received by the Brother device.
Ad-hoc
Ad-hoc networks (also sometimes referred to as peer-to-peer networks) do not have a central Access point. Each Wireless client communicates directly with each other. When the wireless device is set in this mode, it receives all jobs directly from the computer sending the data.
Wireless Network Name (SSID)
The SSID (Service Set Identifier) specifies which wireless network to use.
Channel
Wireless networks use channels. There are up to 13 channels that can be used. However, in many countries the number of channels available are restricted.
Authentication Method and Encryption Mode
Most Wireless networks use some kind of security settings.
These security settings define the authentication (how the device identifies itself to the network) and encryption (how the data is encrypted as it is sent on the network).
If you do not correctly specify these options when you are configuring your wireless device, it will not be able to connect to the wireless network.
Therefore care must be taken when configuring these options.
Please refer to the information below to see which authentication and encryption methods your wireless device supports for home(personal) use.
Authentication Methods
This device supports the following Methods for home (personal) use:
- Open System
- Shared Key (Infrastructure mode only)
- WPA/WPA2-PSK
Open System
Wireless devices are allowed access to the network without any authentication.
Shared Key(Infrastructure mode only)
A secret pre-determined key is shared by all devices that will access the wireless network.
WPA/WPA2-PSK
A secret pre-determined passphrase is shared by all devices that will access the wireless network.
This authentication method enables you to communicate securely using a powerful encryption method.
WPA/WPA2-PSK can only be used in a wireless infrastructure network.
Encryption Methods
Encryption is used to secure the data itself. This device supports the following Methods for home (personal) use:
None
No encryption method is used.
WEP
By using WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), the data is transmitted and received with a secured key.
TKIP
TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) removes the predictability that intruders could relied upon to exploit security weaknesses brought about with the use of manually assigned WEP keys.
TKIP keys are automatically generated and are longer that WEP keys and as a result, more secure that standard WEP keys.
AES
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is Wi-Fi® authorized strong encryption standard.
Network Key
There are some rules for each security method:
Open System/Shared Key with WEP
Enter the WEP key that will be used to access your network. This key is a 64-bit or 128-bit value that must be entered in an ASCII or HEXADECIMAL format.
64(40)bit ASCII
Uses 5 text characters.
e.g. "Hello" (this is case sensitive)
64(40)bit Hexadecimal
Uses 10 digits of hexadecimal data.
e.g. "71f2234aba"
128(104)bit ASCII
Uses 13 text characters.
e.g. "Wirelesscomms" (this is case sensitive)
128(104)bit Hexadecimal
Uses 26 digits of hexadecimal data.
e.g. "71f2234ab56cd709e5412aa3ba"
WPA/WPA2-PSK and TKIP/AES
Uses a Pre-Shared Key (PSK) that is more than 7 and less than 64 characters in length.