Wireless is making it’s way into the CCNA certification. There are more objectives pushed into the CCNA 200-301 and for good reason. Wireless is a primary method of access to the network. And it must be taken seriously just as the wired network is.
One of the objectives of the CCNA 200-301 is configuring a WLAN with a WPA2 Pre-share key (PSK).
In this post I’ll be using a Cisco 3504 wireless LAN controller (WLC) running 8.10 code.
Creating a WLAN
After logging into the WLC, click on the WLANs tab at the top. This is where we configure our WLAN (or SSID).
You may or may not have any previously configured WLANs. In this lab, I’ll configure a brand new WLAN. On the top right, ensure the drop down is set to Create New and click on Go.
Next, we’ll be placed into a new section to configure our WLAN’s profile name and the name we want to broadcast (the SSID).
Type is set to WLAN.
Profile Name is set to whatever you like.
SSID is the name of the WLAN that will be broadcasted.
ID is the number we want to associate with this WLAN.
When ready, click on Apply at the top right.
Configuring the WLAN Settings
After applying, we’ll be able to modify many of the WLAN’s settings. On the first tab, General, is where we will Enable the WLAN, assign it to an interface or interface group, and ensure it is broadcasting.
Configure WPA2 with PSK
Next, click on the Security tab where we will configure our PSK using WPA2.
For Layer 2 Security we want to select WPA2. In my screenshot you will see WPA2+WPA3 because of the version of code I am using. You may see WPA+WPA2.
The Security Type should be changed to Personal. This is the PSK portion of the objective. The other option is Enterprise which will utilize 802.1X.
Our WPA2 parameters will use the WPA2 Policy with the AES encryption cipher.
Scrolling down, we will configure Authentication Key Management and set the PSK password.
For a plain-text password, select ASCII as the PSK Format and in the text box, type in your desired password for the WLAN.
When finished, click on Apply.
A WLAN is now configured using WPA2 PSK and enabled.