A hotel sets a staff WLAN to WPA3 and then disables protected management frames. WPA3 clients refuse the WLAN. What does WPA3 require here?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
WPA3 does not shrug off management-frame protection. You turned that protection off and the clients refused the WLAN, so turn it back on. Hiding the name or narrowing the channel is not a substitute.
Full Explanation
WPA3 expects protected management frames, the 802.11w protection that stops forged management frames such as a spoofed disconnect. A WLAN set to WPA3 with that protection disabled is not a valid WPA3 combination, and clients that implement WPA3 refuse it. The requirement is to enable protected management frames, typically as required, not to leave them off. Disabling them does not make WPA3 fall back to open beacons. Open is a different security type, and WPA3 is not open. A hidden SSID only omits the name from beacons. It does not enable protected management frames, and a hidden WPA3 WLAN with protection still disabled would still be refused. Channel width is a PHY choice. A 20 MHz channel does not replace management-frame protection, and WPA3 clients do not start accepting a disabled PMF setting because the channel is narrow. Exam caveat: a transition WLAN that offers WPA2 and WPA3 has a more careful PMF setting so older clients can still join. Pure WPA3 is the case that wants protection required. Operational check: set protected management frames back to required on that WPA3 WLAN and confirm a WPA3 phone associates.