* Trapeze Networks gives wireless guest users access with SmartPass
The pitch is that your receptionist can hand out temporary passes for wireless network access without IT involvement, and this is supposed to increase the security of your WLAN deployment.
In a news story this week, Senior Editor John Cox outlines Trapeze Networks’ efforts to streamline the process of letting authorized guest users onto the corporate WLAN with new software the company calls SmartPass. As the story goes, the point of the software – which runs on a central server as opposed to being hosted on a Trapeze controller and has its own database for registering, authenticating and tracking guest access – is intended to make it easier to quickly create and administer guest accounts for thousands of users. The interface is specifically designed for non-technical folks.
Cox writes: “Working with the SmartPass user interface, a receptionist types in the requested information and issues to the guest a username/password combination. When guests log in to the WLAN with this combination, the SmartPass server authenticates them and confirms that they are authorized to access the network at that time.
“Network administrators can access the SmartPass server to see detailed information about wireless guests, and review details of the accounts. Companies can create user accounts in bulk, taking a list of several hundred names, for example, importing it into SmartPass, and creating the accounts ahead of time.”
Trapeze offers a free 30-day trial of SmartPass. Pricing starts at $595 for as many as 50 guest users; $1,990 for as many as 10,000.
If you’re not convinced by the Trapeze argument and need to research what your options are in the WLAN Security realm, please point your browser in the direction of the Network World Buyer’s Guide on the topic.
In this Buyer’s Guide listing you can parse detailed product data on 18 products from over a dozen vendors to help you find a fit for your network.
