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Knowledge Base > Wireless > How can I tell if my router or access point has WPA or WPA2 enabled?

How can I tell if my router or access point has WPA or WPA2 enabled?

If your router or access point has WPA or WPA2 enabled, the 802.11 management beacon will include an RSN Information Element that describes the WPA/WPA2 capabilities. You can use the /usr/sbin/iwlist interface scan command to scan for wireless access points. If your device has WPA/WPA2 enabled, the RSN Information Element will be reported in the scan results.

If you look at the results of the following scan, the first access point reports a RSN Information Element whereas the second does not. If the RSN IE is present in the scan results, then your wireless router or access point is configured for WPA/WPA2. In the scan results below, the second access point is not configured for WPA or WPA2. 


[user@localhost ~]$ /sbin/iwlist eth7 scan
eth7      Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:18:39:7A:B2:E0
                    ESSID:"AP1"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality:50/94  Signal level:-47 dBm  Noise level:-154 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP 
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP 
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK  
          Cell 02 - Address: 00:1D:7E:0D:1C:8D
                    ESSID:"AP2"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                    Quality:20/94  Signal level:-57 dBm  Noise level:-154 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                    Extra:bcn_int=100