Cisco Wireless LAN Security

MAC-Based Authentication

The MAC-based authentication is actually an internal policy processing by the AP. The AP has an internal table of MAC addresses from which it allows access to the network. The MAC address authentication configuration is described in Chapter 12, “WLAN Security Configuration Guidelines and Examples.”

Note

Because MAC-based authentication is not part of the 802.11 standard, different implementations can vary. For example, some block association, whereas others simply block the traffic.

In many APs, MAC-based authentication can be achieved when using either open authentication or shared-key authentication, with the enhancement that the AP enforces the policy of matching the authenticating MAC address to the AP’s table of ...