Four Risks and Countermeasures for deploying enterprise Wireless Networks

When planning a wireless network for installation, you must carefully assess and solve the risks. Otherwise, unforeseen problems such as radio frequency interference, poor performance, and security vulnerabilities will cause disasters. By controlling risks in the early stages of deployment, you will significantly improve the chances of a successful wireless network.

The following are some common risks to consider:

1. Ambiguous requirements

If you clarify the requirements before deploying a wireless network, the wireless network may not meet your needs. Poor implementation requirements are often the cause of the unsuccessful Information System Plan. Therefore, before the deployment process goes far, you must define clear requirements. For example, you may install 802.11g today to support the needs of a small number of users to access emails and browse the Internet. 10 months later, this organization may increase user density or multimedia applications that require solutions with higher performance requirements. This organization will face a decision to turn to 802.11n. After carefully considering the requirements, you can start to implement them correctly. In this way, you can choose the right technology at the beginning.

2. radio frequency interference

Equipment such as 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz cordless phones, microwave ovens, and nearby networks can cause destructive radio frequency interference, affecting the performance of a wireless network. To minimize the risk of radio frequency interference, perform a wireless site survey before installing the access point to detect interference and anti-interference measures. The problem with radio frequency interference is that it is not always controllable. For example, you may have deployed a 2.4 GHz 802.11n wireless network in an office environment, and then a company next door installed a wireless network with the same frequency three months later. This will cause mutual interference between the two wireless networks. The possible solution to minimize this risk is to use a targeted antenna to ensure that the sending and receiving power of your wireless network is only within your facility. This will limit the impact of interference on the wireless network. You can also specify a 5 GHz 802.11n network. This will provide greater flexibility for selecting channels that do not interfere with each other.

3. Security Vulnerabilities

For wireless networks, the possibility of unauthorized access to enterprise information is a major threat. A Eavesdropper can passively receive and view 802.11 data frames using free wireless network analyzer such as WireShark. Of course, this may expose credit card numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information. To avoid such security risks, you must carefully evaluate the security vulnerabilities of wireless networks and determine effective security policies based on the value of the information you want to protect. In some cases, you may only need firewall protection. Other applications may need valid encryption formats. 802.1x port-based identity recognition also provides enhanced security.

4. Application Interface

In some cases, application interfaces on various hosts and servers can cause major problems when using wireless networks. Some applications may fail due to transient disconnection caused by radio frequency interference or poor coverage. This often happens in honest applications without a wireless system error recovery mechanism. For example, a user may be using an inventory management application that scans an item and uses the keyboard on the scanner to enter the total number. If the connection is interrupted after the barcode is scanned and before the total number of inputs, the host-based application may be used up if the inventory processing is not completed. Therefore, this application may record incorrect or invalid inventory items on the host. To avoid this type of risk, you must carefully define the type of application that the Wireless User device will connect. If necessary, enterprise solutions such as the wireless middleware software (NetMotion) will provide a full recovery mechanism related to the wireless network.

By finding and solving these potential threats, you will be able to deploy wireless networks more successfully.