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Difficulty: MediumWireless Security Protocols (WPA, WPA2, WPA3)

A network administrator is migrating an enterprise wireless network from WPA2-Enterprise to WPA3-Enterprise by enabling a transition mode on a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC). Which two statements accurately describe the protocol mechanisms and operational requirements for this transition deployment? (Select two.)

  1. Protected Management Frames (PMF) must be set to optional (capable) on the WLAN to allow legacy WPA2 clients to connect alongside WPA3 clients.Answer
  2. Both WPA2-Enterprise and WPA3-Enterprise utilize the IEEE 802.1X framework and Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) for user authentication.Answer
  3. C
    WPA3-Enterprise replaces RADIUS authentication with Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) to establish client identity.
  4. D
    FlexConnect local switching mode must be disabled because WPA3-Enterprise requires all client traffic to be centrally switched to process TACACS+ AAA packets.

Answer

Protected Management Frames (PMF) must be set to optional (capable) on the WLAN to allow legacy WPA2 clients to connect alongside WPA3 clients, and both WPA2-Enterprise and WPA3-Enterprise utilize the IEEE 802.1X framework and Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) for user authentication.
Both WPA2-Enterprise and WPA3-Enterprise utilize the IEEE 802.1X port-based authentication architecture paired with EAP for centralized client credential verification via RADIUS. Furthermore, because WPA3 mandates Protected Management Frames (802.11w) while WPA2 does not, enabling transition mode on a Wireless LAN Controller requires setting PMF to optional (capable) so both modern WPA3 and legacy WPA2 clients can successfully associate.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze authentication requirements across WPA2-Enterprise and WPA3-Enterprise.
Identify that both enterprise standards use IEEE 802.1X/EAP with a backend RADIUS server for identity management.
Enterprise wireless security relies on 802.1X port-based access control regardless of whether WPA2 or WPA3 framing is in use.
2
Evaluate Protected Management Frame (PMF / 802.11w) configuration requirements for WLAN transition mode.
Determine that setting PMF to optional (capable) allows WPA3 devices to negotiate management frame protection while permitting WPA2 devices without PMF support to join.
WPA3 mandates PMF, whereas WPA2 does not require it; setting PMF to optional on the WLC resolves client compatibility gaps.

Key Concept

WPA2/WPA3 Enterprise authentication frameworks and Protected Management Frame (PMF) transition mode settings
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Topics

Wireless Security Protocols (WPA, WPA2, WPA3)

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