If we want to safeguard our wireless networks, it is always good to use an up-to-date encryption algorithm for routers. And that is why we use WEP, WPA, and WPA2. Let’s try to understand the difference between WEP, WPA, and WPA2, how they work, and which one to choose.

What is WEP?

WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy. WEP is a popular security algorithm for wireless networks. It was designed to provide data confidentiality for wireless networks. Earlier, it was widely used and was the first security choice given to Wi-Fi users. But, later it was superseded by WPA and WPA2.

WEP uses a 64-bit, 128-bit, 152-bit, or 256-bit WEP key. It uses the stream cipher RC4 for confidentiality. The WEP key is first concatenated with the Initialization Vector (IV), and then the whole keystream is XOR’ed with the plaintext to get the encrypted value. The diagram looks like this:

The length of the Initialization Vector usually is 24 bits. This means that for a 64-bit WEP, the WEP key length is 40-bit. For 128-bit WEP, the key length is 104-bit. And for 256-bit WEP, the key length is 232-bit.

For 64-bit WEP, a user enters the key as 5 ASCII characters. The key is converted into a 5 x 8 = 40-bit WEP key. Then, the key is concatenated with a 24-bit Initialization Vector (IV). The 64-bit keystream is then XOR’ed with the plaintext to get the encrypted value.

Similarly, for 128-bit WEP, a user enters 13 ASCII characters, and for 256-bit WEP, the user enters 29 ASCII …