aspect of reality a user needs to understand and, more likely comply with the network administrator is the use of user name and password, or a Media Access Control (MAC) Address as the minimum that will be required for account setup. On a Windows machine, taking an example of Windows 8, one should make sure to enable one's client to act as a supplicant by going to the Network Properties of the Network Interface Card (NIC), and from the Authentication tab, "Enable IEEE 802.1X authentication" need to be checked. Similar steps need to be taken on other network devices that provide support for IEEE 802.1X authentication. This is the most important single step a user will need to make in order for one's network device to act as a supplicant. Notes Note that IAS was being used up to Windows Server 2003; since then, it has been replaced by NPS on all subsequent Windows Server releases (2008, 2012...). IAS and NPS are not the only RADIUS Servers, some other include: FreeRADIUS, Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS) Server... References See also Supplicant External links ESG Open 802.1x Supplicant initiative Understanding 802.1x authentication on Microsoft Cisco Secure Access Control System on Cisco What is 802.1x Security Authentication for Wireless Networks? on Netgear Creating a secure 802.1x wireless infrastructure using Microsoft Windows on Microsoft Technet on SecureW2 IEEE 802