The Business Case for Enterprise-Class Wireless LANs

Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol. PEAP is an EAP mechanism that authenticates wireless LAN clients using only server-side digital certificates. An encrypted SSL/TLS tunnel between the client and the authentication server is created and used to protect the subsequent user authentication exchange.

Public key infrastructure. A system or framework where digital certificates, certificate authorities, and other registration authorities verify and authenticate the validity of each party involved in a network transaction. PKI uses public and shared keys to encrypt and decrypt data.

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Power over Ethernet. A technique used to deliver direct current (DC) power over twisted-pair cables to Ethernet devices. This approach obviates the need for these devices to be connected directly to a mains power-supply socket. The IEEE standard for PoE is called 802.3af.

Pre-shared key. The IEEE 802.11 term for a shared secret, also known as a shared key. Pre-shared keys form an important part of WPA when used in WPAPSK mode. This allows a small or SOHO wireless network to use the enhancements of WPA without using an EAP server. Pre-shared keys play a fundamental part in many encryption frameworks.