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5 Best Practices for Fast, Secure Wi-Fi on K-12 Campuses

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When I was a high school student, bringing a smartphone into classrooms was not permitted. If you were caught with any electronic device, it would be confiscated. Pronto.

In this new digital era, schools are embracing this transformation everywhere. Classrooms are changing, with Wi-Fi being the primary form of internet access. Students, faculty and guests also use more than one device at a time, including laptops, tablets, wearables and smartphones. As the number of devices grow, it becomes critical to plan your K-12 networks effectively and future-proof it to be able to implement newer and safer technology.

If you’re expanding, upgrading or building a secure wireless network for K-12 campus or districts, review these five helpful best practices.

Plan for density

Secure Wi-Fi networks are often planned based on coverage. If the wireless signal simply covers a classroom it does not signify that it can actually handle the device density in that room. With students and faculty using multiple devices, the number of devices connected to a particular wireless access point increases. Ensure that you are prepared for max traffic density in your classroom — and across the entire campus.

How? As a first approach, ensure you have sufficient coverage and layer this with density. Use a site survey tool like the SonicWall WiFi Planner to make this process easier to visualize. Next, estimate where you find max device density, peak traffic and plan your Wi-Fi deployment around this.

Go cloud

More applications and functions are moving to the cloud (or are likely already there). For K-12 schools untethering Wi-Fi from their wireless controller or firewalls, the cloud offers powerful infrastructure and applications to simplify management and security.

By going this route, K-12 districts and schools have the flexibility to manage wireless security solutions from the cloud, scale limitlessly and also drive down TCO.

How? Transition to a cloud-managed wireless solution. The SonicWall wireless solution can be managed by the WiFi Cloud Manager, which is a scalable, centralized Wi-Fi network management system, simplifying wireless access, control and troubleshooting capabilities across networks of any size or region.

Accessible through SonicWall Capture Security Center (CSC), WiFi Cloud Manager unifies multiple tenants, locations and zones while simultaneously supporting tens of thousands of SonicWave wireless access points.

Single-pane-of-glass management

Managing multiple management dashboards is challenging as there is a high risk of things falling through the cracks. To avoid this and to streamline the process it is essential to have a single-pane-of-glass management system with real-time analytics to capture threats and abnormalities in your network. This type of management saves you time and helps you become proactive rather than reactive.

How? Empower yourself with the right management solution to govern your entire network security ecosystem from a single dashboard. Capture Security Center is a scalable cloud-based security management system that’s a built-in, ready-to-use component of your SonicWall product or service.

Capture Security Center features single sign-on (SSO) and single-pane-of-glass management. It integrates the functionality of the Capture Cloud Platform to deliver robust security management, analytics and real-time threat intelligence for your entire portfolio of network, email, mobile and cloud security resources.

Enable content filtering

Wi-Fi is an easy gateway for malicious attacks. It must be protected with the right encryption and security mechanisms. Create granular policies to ensure that students are protected against malicious and non-reputable websites.

How? Ensure that you enable content filtering on your network. SonicWall provides a Content Filtering Service (CFS) that compares requested sites against a massive database in the cloud containing millions of rated URLs, IP addresses and domains. It provides administrators with the tools to create and apply policies that allow or deny access to sites based on individual or group identity, or by time of day, for over 50 pre-defined categories.

Future-proof with the latest technology

Ensure that you deploy the latest wireless technology in your schools. Future-proofing secure Wi-Fi is the best way to ensure that you get your money’s worth in the long term while providing the best user experience.

How? This does not mean you have to rip and replace your entire existing network. It could be a gradual approach, wherein you upgrade only critical units based on your needs. Build your network on the latest certified wireless standard: 802.11ac wave 2. Future-proof with wireless access points that are 802.11ac Wave 2-capable.

Adhering to these best practices will make your WiFi network efficient and secure — all while saving you time and money.

Wireless Security, Wi-Fi Management Hot Topics at RSA Conference 2019

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Like the many years before it, RSA Conference 2019 in San Francisco was full of buzz, energy, product “noise” and, this year, lots of heavy rain. And, of course, I forgot to bring my umbrella.

Rain or shine, RSA draws over 50,000 attendees each year. The event provides a chance to get to know the hot products shaping the security industry, hear from industry experts and connect with peers.

Although many fantastic cybersecurity products were on display on the expo floor, there were a few that completely stood out — and the end-to-end SonicWall wireless solution was among them.

Wireless security, planning and management from a single solution

The SonicWall wireless solution is comprised of SonicWave access points, WiFi Cloud Manager, WiFi Planner and the SonicWiFi mobile app. In fact, Biztech named the SonicWave wireless access points among the new and useful technology seen at the show. (Go to the 3:30 mark in the video below.)

SonicWave access points (AP) combine high-performance IEEE 802.11ac Wave 2 wireless technology with flexible deployment options. The APs can be managed via the cloud using SonicWall WiFi Cloud Manager or through SonicWall’s industry-leading next-generation firewalls. The result is a solution that could be untethered from the firewall to provide you a superior WiFi user experience that’s as secure as any wired connection.

SonicWave access points take advantage of the Wave 2 standard with MU-MIMO support, which enables simultaneous transmission to numerous Wave 2-enabled wireless clients, providing an enhanced user experience. You can also easily extend your Wi-Fi networks and effortlessly set it up with mesh technology.

Wireless security — even without a firewall

SonicWall integrates advanced security right on the access points. The cloud-based, multi-engine Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) sandbox and Content Filtering Service (CFS) can be enabled on the access points to provide advanced threat detection and protection.

SonicWave access points provide you comprehensive wireless security with features including a dedicated third radio for security scanning, wireless intrusion detection and prevention, wireless firewalling, secure Layer 3 wireless roaming and more.

Easy Wi-Fi planning, management from the cloud

If you aren’t an RF expert, getting the right AP placement for optimal coverage or density is somewhat impossible. Prior to AP deployment, designing and planning Wi-Fi networks with a site survey tool is essential.

This is where SonicWall WiFi Planner comes to your rescue. It is a predictive, cloud-based site-survey tool to ensure you have the best RF plan.

Once you have a plan, next you need to onboard the devices. The SonicWall SonicWiFi mobile app, available on iOS and Android, helps you monitor networks, easily onboard wireless access points and set up wireless mesh networks.

After onboarding you need to manage maybe dozens or even thousands of SonicWave access points. Named one of the 16 hottest network and endpoint security products at RSA by CRN, SonicWall WiFi Cloud Manager streamlines the process. It is available via the cloud-based Capture Security Center and delivers single-pane-of-glass visibility to reduce costs and simplify Wi-Fi management.

Wave 2 wireless access points are reliable, easy to manage

SonicWave access points are ideal for most deployments as they provide reliable user experience with flexible management. SonicWave 200 series access points are best suited for medium-to-low density requirements.

For example, the SonicWave 231c can be used indoors in retail stores or classrooms and can be installed on ceilings. While the SonicWave 224w can be used in indoor locations like hotel and hospital rooms.

On the other hand, the SonicWave 231o outdoor access points are IP67-rated to withstand tough outdoor conditions and fit perfectly in outdoor spaces like parks, playgrounds and parking lots. For higher density requirements, SonicWave 400 series access points is ideal.