WPA3 Standard To Be Implemented Across Qualcomm Product Portfolios

[Julio Urquidi]

Qualcomm has announced that the third-generation Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA3) standard will be available on Qualcomm’s new mobile and networking infrastructure products later this year.

WPA3 is seen as the next logical step in securing wireless communication. It adds enhanced cryptography, data privacy protection in public hotspots via Opportunistic Wireless Protection, and an improved on-boarding experience for wireless products. It also eliminates the security hole exposed by the KRACK exploit that could bypass WPA2 security.

Qualcomm is targeting the WPA3 implementation into its chipsets starting in summer 2018, starting with its Snapdragon 845 platform and on then all the company’s network infrastructure products. The announcement also said Qualcomm will support WPA3 on its "802.11ax-ready" WCN3998 2x2 client device and IPQ807x AP platform.

This announcement does not mean WPA3 will be supported on all current Qualcomm Wi-Fi products. WPA3's computational needs require more powerful hardware than current devices have. So the only way you'll be able to get WPA3 is by replacing your current gear.

[Press release]

 

[Razor512]

Since the changes seem to be on the software side, what re the odds that we will see some WPA2 routes getting firmware updates to support it?

 

[thiggins]

Since the changes seem to be on the software side, what re the odds that we will see some WPA2 routes getting firmware updates to support it?

None. Read the post.

 

[umarmung]

If this is being announced only now, does that mean the upcoming first wave of AX routers will not be supporting WPA3?

 

[thiggins]

If this is being announced only now, does that mean the upcoming first wave of AX routers will not be supporting WPA3?

I would not assume that, but I don't really know. I would hope they would.

 

[sfx2000]

I would not assume that, but I don't really know. I would hope they would.

I'm thinking probably yes - they should, as the supplicant is at a different layer than the PHY itself...

 

[Razor512]

For the processing power limitations, is it due to a dedicated ASIC that handles the WiFi encryption, or are they referring to the to the main SOC and the performance of its interger cores?

While there are some slow WPA 2 based routers, some of the more recent devices have moved to significantly more powerful hardware, e.g., would it be reasonable to believe that something like a Netgear R9000 would lack the CPU performance needed to handle WPA3? I believe the QNAP TS-1635 uses the same SOC, and from its benchmarks, it seems quite capable.

Is the snapdragon 845 on the borderline of barely being able to handle WPA3, or is it an arbitrary cutoff point between it and the Snapdragon 835 as best case scenario, the 845 is only about 23% faster in handling encryption, and an overall IPC improvement of about 15% over the 835, and much of the performance increase comes from very short term clock speed boosts designed for short things like launching an app or game, but not offering it the full time you are doing something like gaming.

 

[sfx2000]

For the processing power limitations, is it due to a dedicated ASIC that handles the WiFi encryption, or are they referring to the to the main SOC and the performance of its interger cores?

While there are some slow WPA 2 based routers, some of the more recent devices have moved to significantly more powerful hardware, e.g., would it be reasonable to believe that something like a Netgear R9000 would lack the CPU performance needed to handle WPA3? I believe the QNAP TS-1635 uses the same SOC, and from its benchmarks, it seems quite capable.

Is the snapdragon 845 on the borderline of barely being able to handle WPA3, or is it an arbitrary cutoff point between it and the Snapdragon 835 as best case scenario, the 845 is only about 23% faster in handling encryption, and an overall IPC improvement of about 15% over the 835, and much of the performance increase comes from very short term clock speed boosts designed for short things like launching an app or game, but not offering it the full time you are doing something like gaming.

Not sure where you're going with WPA2 and performance impact - might be some old 802.11g devices that had issues, but 802.11n and later all had dedicated elements in the WiFi chipset to handle the AES encryption...

WPA3 should be fine, and backwards compatible...

Regarding your comment on Qualcomm SD835/SD845 - that's application layer, not related to WiFi one single big - that being said, in my recent experience with SD820 and SD835, they were all pretty good with various crypto... SD845 should be similar.

 

[sfx2000]

Interesting read...

https://www.mathyvanhoef.com/2018/03/wpa3-technical-details.html

This is the guy that found the WPA2 krack vuln...

 

[umarmung]

Would fully compliant hardware hardware accelerate AES-GCM? Don't know too many non-ARM, non-x86 architectures that support AES-GCM.

 

[Fredex]

None. Read the post.

Sigh; and I just (well, early 2018) spent 200 bucks for a AC86u, with the fond hope it would last me several years. Now they tell me it's going to be obsolete in the near future (no WPA3) ?? Maybe I'll have to permanently disable wireless and just let the family suffer.

I hope I'm misunderstanding what I read...

 

[thiggins]

WPA3 certification has been announced.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/wpa3-certification-open-for-business.47410/

 

[thiggins]

I hope I'm misunderstanding what I read...

You are not. Many of the stories about today's WPA3 Certification announcement note you'll need new hardware. You'll be able to mix WPA2 and WPA3. But if you're still using WPA or WEP stuff (and you shouldn't), it won't be supported.