A Secure Approach to Deploying Wireless Networks

Enterprise wireless networks are an important component of modern network architecture. They are required to support mobile devices and provide connectivity to various devices where wired connections are not practical or cost prohibitive. But the missing physical control of the medium does require additional precautions to control access to wireless networks. Most books and papers present the problem and the risks, but do not provide a fully secure solution with examples. The 802.11 standard for wireless networks does offer encryption and authentication methods like WPA. But in an enterprise environment, these controls have to be implemented in a scalable and manageable way. This paper presents a hands-on guide to implementing a secure wireless network in an enterprise environment and provides an example of a tested secure solution.