Wireless networks are a necessity in the 2019 business world – but opening up your organization’s airwaves can bring with it some unwelcome visitors. That’s why security needs to be a top consideration when setting up your WiFi. WatchGuard can help with Secure Wi-Fi. Secure Wi-Fi includes a variety of services – like a Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS), access control, and excellent visibility into your wireless network’s activities – which – combined with WatchGuard access points – help ensure your business has a Trusted Wireless Environment.
A Secure Wi-Fi license also means you have access to WatchGuard’s Wi-Fi Cloud, which is where you can easily deploy your APs and manage your network (or networks) from wherever it’s most convenient to you. The Wi-Fi Cloud lets you customize your dashboard to get the network information most important to you as soon as you open it. And that setup and deployment? You can just open the GO Mobile Web App from your smartphone, tablet, or computer – whatever device you’d prefer.
Learn more about Secure Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi Cloud in our video:
How to Get Secure
A Secure Wi-Fi – or an even better Total Wi-Fi – license is available with the purchase of a WatchGuard AP. Browse the full line of access points from WatchGuard to find the ones that fit your network needs best.
WatchGuard released a new set of wireless access points in 2019–the AP125, AP325, and AP420–that integrate with the WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud management platform. With sweet new features like Wave 2 capabilities, MU-MIMO dual radios, and a Wireless Intrusion Prevention System, there’s some big news packed into these small boxes.
Check out the table below to see if the WatchGuard AP125, AP325, or AP420 make the most sense for your wireless needs.
What makes these new wireless access points unique? Keep reading and we’ll answer all of your questions about the factors that set the WatchGuard AP125, WatchGuard AP325, and WatchGuard AP420 apart from the crowd.
What is Wave 2?
Wave 2 is an evolution of traditional 802.11 wireless protocols. Think of Wave 2 as the next generation of wireless connectivity. This development utilizes Multiple-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) technology to increase the connectivity and data transfer speeds of wireless APs. MU-MIMO was designed to make it easy for multiple users to connect to a wireless network at the same time, rather than “queuing” in a first-come, first-serve method. A handful of other new advancements introduced with Wave 2 focus on increasing maximum wireless speeds.
What is WIPS?
WatchGuard boasts one of the top Wireless Intrusion Prevention Systems (WIPS) for wireless access points in the industry and it’s easy to see the value. WIPS is super accurate when detecting and identifying access points and client devices to intelligently prevent intrusions from the latest Wi-Fi threats. WIPS prevents six known categories of Wi-Fi threats without noticeably impacting performance, which means your wireless environment is safe from man-in-the-middle attacks, honeypots, “evil twin” attacks, rogue APs, rogue clients, and more. Every WatchGuard access point is able to operate as both an access point and a dedicated intrusion prevention sensor – and WIPS even works with existing non-WatchGuard access points.
WatchGuard AP420’s Dedicated 3rd 2×2 MIMO Dual Band Radio
The largest of WatchGuard’s new line of access points, the AP420, is designed for heavy-duty connectivity in high-density environments. To lessen the impact of security processes with a high-volume of users connecting simultaneously, WatchGuard off-loads scanning and security processes to a dedicated third radio.
The WatchGuard AP420’s 2×2 MIMO dual-band radio ensures that all of the advanced wireless threat protection offered by WIPS runs without affecting speeds for the many users that these access points serve. Even under heavy demand, your organization can trust that advanced security is just as much a priority as speed and ease-of-use.
Cloud-Based Management
Great news for the IT team: WatchGuard’s secure cloud-based access points feature an entirely controller-free management experience, so wireless network administrators can say goodbye to the limitations of complex controller infrastructure. WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud environments can scale from a single AP up to an unlimited number spanning multiple locations.
Security policies are easily configured for grouped APs, meaning you can easily set rules for specific floors of a building, certain user groups, or entire buildings. All of this is managed through an intuitive web-based dashboard.
Integrating with Google for Education
WatchGuard access points are especially great solutions for K-12 classrooms because they integrate easily with Google for Education services. Google for Education is a collection of applications and other web services that provides customizable versions of popular Google products like Gmail, G-Drive, Slides, Sheets, Docs, and more. With these convenient tools, teachers are able to create virtual classrooms and projects from scratch. Google for Education makes it easier than ever for teachers to connect with students through Chromebooks, tablets, and the cloud, bringing technology to the classroom. Best of all, Google for Education is free for schools to use!
With WatchGuard’s Wave 2 wireless access points, only devices that are registered to a school’s Google domain can connect to the wireless network where network access policies are enforced. This integration brings granular control and ease-of-use to school districts looking to deploy Google for Education.
Learn more about the full line of WatchGuard access points, and shop for the models that are right for your network.
