What's the difference between WPA and 802.11i?

What's the difference between WPA and 802.11i? Are there any 802.11i products yet?
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a Wi-Fi Alliance snapshot of the 802.11i standard, frozen back in October 2002. It uses RC4 for encryption, with key mixing to avoid cracking risks associated with Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP).

WPA2 is the Wi-Fi Alliance's brand for the final 802.11i standard, ratified in June 2004. WPA2 is a superset of WPA, adding several new features:

AES encryption becomes an alternative to RC4 encryption. AES is more efficient and ultimately more secure than RC4 when used over 802.11 wireless.
802.1X Authentication can be used by ad hoc (peer to peer) 802.11 connections. 802.1X can be used with WPA for infrastructure (AP-based) networks only.
Options for speeding 802.1X re-authentication have been added, including key caching and pre-authentication. These are particularly helpful for VoWLAN.

To learn more about 802.11i (WPA2) and products that support this new standard, read this WLAN Advisor Tip that I wrote for SearchMobileComputing.com.

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Dig Deeper on Wireless LAN (WLAN)

Differences among WEP, WPA and WPA2 wireless security protocols As wireless network technologies have evolved, so too have the wireless security protocols for securing them. Get a quick overview of the three WLAN security standards, and learn the differences among WEP, WPA and WPA2.

From the ground up: Creating secure WLANs In this video, Lisa Phifer of Core Competence Inc. focuses on creating secure WLANs, including WLAN basics and implementation best practices.

How to avoid the WPA wireless security standard attack The latest crack in wireless Internet security, specifically, the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) security standard, can threaten the safety of enterprise networks and company information or data. This tip shows the best way to avoid being victimized from this cryptographic attack, and explains the differences between WEP, WPA, and WPA2, and how WEP cracking caused 802.11 standards to evolve.

Wireless security protocols -- How WPA and WPA2 work WPA and WPA2 improve upon WEP's encryption methods for better 802.11 wireless security.

Wireless security protocols -- How WPA and WPA2 work WPA and WPA2 improve upon WEP's encryption methods for better 802.11 wireless security. WPA was carefully designed so that hardware upgrades would not be needed. The processing power of many early access points (APs) was quite limited. The RC4 cipher was chosen for WEP because it does not require a powerful CPU. WPA retains the use of RC4 but adds features designed to address the deficiencies in the way that WEP uses the cipher.

Wireless security -- How WEP encryption works Inadequate wireless security can jeopardize critical company information. Encryption is an important part of wireless security -- but how does it work? In this tip, first in a two-part series on 802.11 wireless security protocols, learn how WEP or Wired Equivalent Privacy works and why it alone is not an adequate wireless security solution.

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