A clear increase in WLAN security can be achieved by using keys that are dynamically negotiated instead of keys with fixed values. The established process for this purpose is the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). As the name suggests, the original purpose of EAP is authentication, that is, the regulated access to a WLAN—the possibility of installing a valid key for the next session is more or less a byproduct. The figure below illustrates the basic procedure of a session secured by EAP.
Note: In principle, EAP / 802.1X can be used in combination with WEP. However, this method is generally employed with WLANs using WPA2.