The Wi-Fi Alliance announced today that the first round of products has successfully completed Wi-Fi Protected Access interoperability testing, a new security standard replacing WEP.
WiFi Protected Access is designed as an interim step to 802.11i, the next-generation security standard currently in the development phase. The 802.11i standard is expected be designed around the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), an additional layer of security.
WPA certifications have been granted to nine products: the Atheros AR5BCB-00025A – AR5001X+ 802.11a/b/g CardBus reference design board; the Atheros AR5BAP-00025A – AR5001AP 802.11a/b/g access point; the Broadcom 802.11g access point reference design – BCM94306-GAP; the Broadcom 802.11g CardBus reference design – BCM94306CB; the Cisco access point AIR-AP1230B; the Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 LAN 3B mini-PCI adapter; the Intersil PRISM 2.5 reference design PCMCIA card ISL37300P; the Intersil PRISM access point development kit ISL36356A; and the Symbol Wireless Networker CompactFlash wireless LAN adapter model LA-4137.
The newly certified products will be available in May, according to Dennis Eaton, chairman of the WiFi Alliance. Most of the products will provide upgrades to the news security standard via a software upgrade, Eaton said.
Labels denoting WPA certification will be placed on the products, and companies will be allowed to add special icons to their websites touting the new products as WPA-compliant.