InterLink introduces cheap, easy-to-administer, single-minded authentication server with WPA and 802.1X/EAP-TLS support: RADIUS is expensive and complicated. Small businesses either can't afford the server software or the staff to support it. InterLink is trying to reduce the cost of providing a secure Wi-Fi network by introducing its LucidLink client and server software that has one. Unlike robust, multi-purpose RADIUS servers, LucidLink authenticates in one way for one purpose.
LucidLink's client software manages certificates used with EAP-TLS, the most secure method of out-of-band messaging for the authentication portion of joining a Wi-Fi network using 802.1X. With EAP-TLS, the certificate on the client machine assures the server of the correct identity. LucidLink uses WPA for keying material. It supports certain releases of Windows XP and 2000.
LucidLink is the flip side of the coin from Wireless Security Corporation's out-of-house solution. WSC runs its RADIUS system as a managed service over the Internet, charging $4 to $5 per user per month. InterLink's server will cost $449 for 10 users and a lower per-user cost for higher quantities, and requires a Windows 2000 or 2003 server. The client software is nominally free, but the license for users resides on the server side.