DS Wi-Fi uses WEP, not WPA
Less secure than it might be?
Some more technical details of Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection service for the DS have appeared on the net this week thanks to eagle-eyed (well, presumably just 'eyed') attendees of last week's Digital Life Show in New York City, who saw it demonstrated.
Wi-Fi Connection is capable of auto-detecting the SSIDs of 802.11b-compatible wireless networks in its immediate vicinity (or whatever number of metres it is that the thing supports), and is happy to obtain its own IP address automatically (using DHCP) or work with a static one. All of which bodes well for compatibility.
In slightly less good news, Wi-Fi Connection apparently uses WEP security rather than WPA. As Joystiq points out, WEP is pretty easily cracked and most people ought to be running WPA at home by now - which presents a problem.
Mind you, it's not a problem if you've shelled out £30 for the USB Wi-Fi Adapter plug-in for your home PC, which acts as a kind of gateway for the DS no matter the scenario, but for those of you hoping to take it online, by the sound of it you'll have to plunge your network back into the choppy, electronic shark infested waters of WEP - at least for the time being.
We'll bring you more on Wi-Fi Connection very soon - the first game to support it, Mario Kart DS, is due out in Europe on November 25th.