Wi-Fi Security Standards & Protocols (WEP vs WPA vs WPA2 vs WPA3 Comparison)

There are various types of wireless security standards and protocols that have been developed for the safety of wireless technologies. Wireless security protocols include WEP, WPA, and WPA2, which serve to provide effective network security. 

• The Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) Protocol

WEP was designed for wireless technologies and was introduced as a Wi-Fi security standard in September 1999. 

It is still much common in today’s era as well within initial structures due to its early age. When considered among all the protocols, WEP is regarded to be the least effective. WEP was officially ceased to operate by the Wi-Fi Alliance in 2004.

• The Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) Protocol

WPA was introduced as WEP's alternative due to the lack of strength within WEP protocol. It has effective additional features that make it harder to break into than a WEP static key. 

Wi-Fi Protected Access protocol was curated to act as a major improvisation of the functioning of WEP.

• The Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) Protocol

WPA2 is the next formulated after WPA and is considered to be an amalgamation. It is the most used security protocol and has been maintained to be a perfect protocol since 2004. 

The Wi-Fi Alliance even announced to use Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 as their prime security protocol in all Wi-Fi devices.  

• The Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) Protocol

WPA3 is the new addition to this category of security protocols whose routers were created in 2019. 

With this new format, Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 offers stronger security to public networks to prevent attackers from extracting sensitive information.

What are the differences between WEP, WPA, WPA2, and WPA3. Let’s understand this quickly with the following tabular comparison: