Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) uses encryption and authentication protocols to prevent unauthorized users from accessing wireless connections. It is commonly used in corporate and residential settings to restrict access to authorized devices. WPA eliminates the potential for unauthorized access and allows for temporary access to visitors with security codes.
Wi-Fi Protected Access is a strategy to protect the integrity of wireless services, both in terms of wireless service connection with authorized equipment such as desktop and laptop computers, notebooks, cell phones, and even Internet-enabled tablets. Also known simply as WPA, Wi-Fi Protected Access uses encryption and authentication protocols to prevent unauthorized users from accessing and using your wireless connection without the express permission of the consumer who is paying for that service. This approach is commonly employed in many corporate settings and is becoming popular with residential users who prefer to restrict access to their Internet connection to only devices associated with their home network.
The basic function of Wi-Fi Protected Access is to set up the access protocols on the devices that the user wants to use when connecting to the Internet. While methods vary, this process may involve using software provided by an Internet provider to establish the user’s network. For example, a home network that uses wireless service might use a desktop computer to load software and configure parameters for that network. As part of the process, the wireless modem would be configured with security codes to be used by other devices to connect to that network. If you want to add a laptop, tablet, or other device, that device must have wireless capabilities and security codes must be entered on those devices before connection can occur.
For a home user, using Wi-Fi Protected Access means that unauthorized users cannot access your wireless connection and use the service without your permission. This approach helps eliminate one of the problems that arose when wireless Internet connections were first offered to consumers, in which strangers could sit in their cars on the street outside a home equipped with wireless Internet service and hop on those networks and use them at will. WPA eliminates the potential for this type of activity and also helps prevent innocent people from being convicted of crimes perpetrated by criminals using unauthorized access to such connections.
While other methods of securing connections were available in the past, secure access over Wi-Fi is considered one of the most stable and reliable solutions available today. Since access is protected with security codes, it is possible for businesses and residential users to provide those codes for temporary use to visitors if they wish. This allows the Wi-Fi customer to enjoy both benefits of knowing that no one is using the connection without permission, while also allowing the flexibility to allow someone access to the network at the discretion of the individual or business who actually pays for the ‘access.
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