What is the WPA3 encryption and security protocol and how to get it on a Wi-Fi router?

 What is the WPA3 encryption and security protocol and how to get it on a Wi-Fi router?

What is the WPA3 encryption and security protocol, and how do I get it on a Wi-Fi router? The WPA3 encryption and security protocol was introduced in 2018, but there is still some confusion about what it is, the improvements it offers, and how to get it. Here's what you need to know about WPA3 and how to use it with your home Wi-Fi.

WEP and WPA protocols and the road to WPA3

Since the introduction of Wi-Fi in the late 1990s, it has always had some form of security algorithm to provide user authentication and connection encryption. The original Wi-Fi security algorithm was Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), which was introduced in 1997 as part of the first generation of Wi-Fi and, as the name suggests, was intended to provide a level of privacy equivalent to that a user would experience on a wired network connection.

From the start, WEP was not a particularly strong encryption protocol, and early Wi-Fi routers and access points were vulnerable to exploits. WEP was replaced by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) in 2003. While WPA was a huge improvement over WEP, it also proved vulnerable. vulnerable, especially when users set their Wi-Fi routers to use WPA (TKIP). TKIP, or Temporary Key Integrity Protocol, was much better than the encryption used in WEP but was quickly found to have vulnerabilities. Since WEP and WPA (and all of their variants) are now deprecated, they should not be used anymore.

In 2004, the Wi-Fi Alliance introduced Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2), which included improvements over WPA, most notably an upgrade from TKIP to the stronger AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), and from September 2004 to June 2020, it was on all devices that the official Wi-Fi certification branding bears WPA2 compliance. In 2018, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced Wi-Fi Protected Access III (WPA3). It wasn't until July 2020 that WPA3 compliance became mandatory, by which time All new devices that seek Wi-Fi certification comply with the mandatory elements of the WPA3 standard.

How do I get WPA3 on my Wi-Fi router?

Everyone reading this article is in one of three possible situations regarding upgrading WPA3 on their home Wi-Fi network: either they have a new router that supports WPA3, or they have an older (but not too old) router that can get WPA3 with a software update. Since WPA3 is the best Wi-Fi encryption you can use on your home network, people are certainly right to be curious as to which option they fall into and how they can get WPA3.

1. You have a new WPA3-certified router.

If your router was certified after 2018, then there is a good chance that it is WPA3 compliant, and if it was certified after July 1, 2020, then it should be WPA3 compliant, in which case you can simply login to your router and enable WPA3 in network settings. If you find that older Wi-Fi devices are dropping your network after enabling WPA3, you may want to switch to WPA2/WPA3 Transitional Mode to allow the older devices to use WPA2 to connect.

2. You have a router that is eligible for the firmware upgrade.

Unlike some home network and smart home upgrades where the improvement requires new hardware (such as one with a special security chip or a new radio type), WPA3 is a software-based upgrade over WPA2, and if your Wi-Fi router has powerful enough hardware to support WPA3 requirements (such as Protected Management Frames) and the manufacturer has released updated firmware, you are good to go.

The entire line of first-generation Eero network routers has received firmware updates for WPA3, for example, so while there are plenty of good reasons to update your router (especially if it's the tired old one your carrier gave you, Internet Service), be sure to check for firmware updates before making the jump just to get WPA3 support.

3. You have an old router.

Most people have been hanging on to their Wi-Fi routers for years, so there's a good chance that even in early 2023—and very few people reading this article own routers old enough that they don't support WPA3 (and they can't beat receiving a firmware update to support it).

And if you find yourself in this situation, it's time to upgrade, and not just because WPA3 access is an excellent step forward in Wi-Fi security; router technology is steadily advancing over time, and if your router doesn't support WPA3, it's probably already done. It was designed and approved over 3-5 years ago, and even if you're not set on getting WPA3, it's time to upgrade your router anyway to enjoy better hardware, better coverage, and access to more advanced features (including WPA3).