This is a vast improvement over the security available in the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security algorithm that preceded it. For example, WPA dynamically generates a new 128-bit key for each packet using the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). The first thing to note is that WPA already contained some important security features found in IEEE 802.11i (WPA2). What is the difference between WPA and WPA2?
However, WPA2 is still the primary form of protection on Wi-Fi networks for the time being.Ĭheck out our guide to WPA3 WiFi standard for more information about it. WPA3 implements several security improvements over WPA2 and is now mandatory to gain official Wi-Fi Alliance certification. This makes WPA2 fairly old, which is why an updated version of the standard, known as WPA3, was ratified in January 2019. As a result, officially certified routers and devices have supported WPA2 for over 15 years. WPA2 has been mandatory for all Wi-Fi Alliance certified products since 2006. WPA3 may become the new mandatory standard in the future. When enabled, WPA2 makes it much safer to connect to Wi-Fi because it provides unique encryption keys for each wireless device. It built on the previous WPA standard to increase data protection and network access control for Wi-Fi networks.
