Encrypted WiFi with no password?

Posted by Ian Boyd on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Ian Boyd
Published on 2012-04-15T15:38:46Z Indexed on 2012/04/15 17:34 UTC
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Is there any standard that allows a WiFi connection to be encrypted, but not require a password?

i know that (old, weak) WEP, and newer WPA/WPA2 require a password (i.e. shared secret). Meanwhile my own wireless connections are "open", and therefore unencrypted.

There is no technical reason why i can't have an encrypted link that doesn't require the user to enter any password. Such technology exists today (see public key encryption and HTTPS).

But does such a standard exist for WiFi?

Note: i only want to protect communications, not limit internet access.

i get the sense that no such standard exists (since i'm pretty capable with Google), but i'd like it confirmed.

Claraification: i want to protect communcations, not limit internet access. That means users are not required to have a password (or its moral equivalent). This means users are not required:

In other words: it has the same accessibility as before, but is now encrypted.

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