Liberty-izone Ltd can help you if you are considering implementing a secure wireless network from scratch or as an extension to your existing LAN structure.

Wireless networks out perform wired networks in such environs as;

• Wharehouses.
• Campus zones.
• Large buildings where mobility is Intranet/Internet access is important.
• Marinas.
• Stockyards e.g. builders merchants or external stores.
• Wireless Till systems e.g. supermarkets or large department stores.

However, security is an absolute to protect your important data and systems from being snooped and hacked. This is where Liberty-izone Ltd can help. Using the latest secure access protocols such as IEEE 802.1x (port based network access control), your wireless network can be proofed against unauthorized access and rogue access points being set up.

Your wireless LAN extensions will be able to support key distribution and dynamic key management. These are critical for scaling and maintaining network security for mobile Internet users in closed wireless LANs.

802.1x brief.

It is a port access protocol for protecting networks via authentication. As a result, this type of authentication method is extremely useful in the wireless environment due to the nature of the medium. If a wireless user is authenticated via 802.1x for network access, a virtual port is opened on the access point allowing for communication. If not successfully authorized, a virtual port is not made available and communications are blocked.

There are three basic components to 802.1x authentication:

1. Supplicant - a software client running on the wireless workstation.
2. Authenticator - the wireless access point.
3. Authentication Server - a authentication database, usually a radius server.
4. 4. EAP (extensible authentication protocol) is used to pass the authentication information between the supplicant (the wireless workstation) and the authentication server. The actual authentication is defined and handled by the EAP type. The access point acting as authenticator is only a proxy to allow the supplicant and the authentication server to communicate.