jmedeiros21
asked on
Best Wireless Firewall solution for small/medium business
I'm setting up an office with a wireless network. The number of users will be in the 25 range at first, but could grow to 50-75 in the future, all wireless. What's the best wireless firewall product to handle this many users? I've researched the SonicWALL TZ 170 SP and I've used sonicwall in the past for wired networks, but I've never had to setup a network that's only going to be wireless. Any suggestions and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
ASKER
Thanks for the response! I'm looking for some experiences with certain products. I could potentially have 75 people using this wireless network, so I'm looking for anyone that's had experience with this many users and what's a good firewall to handle it.
Consider this: wireless lans are no different to wired lans where firewalls are concerned - they simply do not have wires.
i.e. Focus your firewall security "around" your wireless lan, not within it.
Clearly its easier to jump onto a wireless network than a wired however (just saves someone having to come into your building and plugging in to the wires).
In terms of wireless security, as arkoak says, enable MAC address filtering (although a network savvy hacker can easily by-pass this) and additionaly enable WPA security at the minimum. Use WPA-PSK (pre shared key) and NOT WPA-OPEN.
XP-SP1 and older OS dont have capability for WPA I dont think, but MS has a fix to update if you cant add SP-2.
i.e. Focus your firewall security "around" your wireless lan, not within it.
Clearly its easier to jump onto a wireless network than a wired however (just saves someone having to come into your building and plugging in to the wires).
In terms of wireless security, as arkoak says, enable MAC address filtering (although a network savvy hacker can easily by-pass this) and additionaly enable WPA security at the minimum. Use WPA-PSK (pre shared key) and NOT WPA-OPEN.
XP-SP1 and older OS dont have capability for WPA I dont think, but MS has a fix to update if you cant add SP-2.
ASKER
I will take the security info into consideration when setting things up. What I'm really looking for is specific examples, if anyone has any, of products they've used in a similar situation, whether the product worked well or not. Should I go with the Sonicwall or a watchguard wireless firewall, or will I be fine just going with one of netgear's that'll come much cheaper? From what I know, I'm thinking the Sonicwall will provide better security.
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
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ASKER
The are going to be behind it and my concern is having that many PCs in a wireless environment. Will that many PCs affect performance? There will also be a server behind it and all the PCs will have to connect to that, so I want to ensure that there's no downtime due to the wireless. So, I was looking for suggestions for the best wireless firewalls, so good for security and does a good job with the wireless signal. Thanks for the suggestions!!
enabling mac based access list is a good function for your WLAN so anyone providing this feature is more than enough to prevent the outsiders. While other access controls are of less importance here.