At this point, the user may log on to the network domain. Figure 3 summarizes this process. User requests authentication. AP prevents network access. Authentication server validates user and grants access rights.
Wireless client accesses general network services securely.
EAP is an encapsulation protocol that allows different authentication protocols to be selected and used. Scalable to large enterprise networks. WEP keys are dynamically generated and propagated. They do not have to be manually managed on clients and APs. Because authentication is central, rather than at each AP, roaming can be made as transparent as possible.