* Teleworker Wi-Fi: Fine for homework but trouble for the corporate WAN
Last time, we began the tale of woe of our friend for whom the “home-networking” option offered by the cable/DSL service providers simply didn’t work. This time we’d like to continue that discussion with an additional caveat – and a proposed solution.
First the caveat: The 2006 Webtorials Wireless LAN State-of-the-Market study, just published at Webtorials, found two striking and seemingly contradictory trends. Most respondents felt that Wi-Fi offered adequate security, but most felt that these security capabilities were seldom deployed effectively. We couldn’t agree more. In spite of numerous ways to make wireless LANs secure, many, if not most, installations are not secured. In fact, many still have the factory-set SSID and the supervisory password has not been changed.
When you, as a WAN architect, are concerned about encryption and data security within the network itself, are you really comfortable with the possibility that once the information reaches the teleworker’s home, the information is possibly wide open?
So what’s our conclusion? Wi-Fi is fine for homework, but if it becomes a part of the corporate WAN, then it possibly spells trouble. Consequently, this is yet another reason to consider having both cable modem and DSL service to the residence. Which is for the family and which is for the business is a toss-up. But having both installed may very well save a lot of frustration, security exposures, and ultimately money.
We looked at getting a second cable modem or a second DSL line, but both of these presented challenges. If you’re going for the second line, go for route and network diversity. Not only will it provide a more secure network, but it will also provide a backup for whenever one of the two services happens to fail. (In providing this backup, it may require moving a computer if the impetus was the inability of Wi-Fi to reach all locations. But at least it will provide emergency communications.)
Wi-Fi is great for what Wi-Fi is intended for. But as an endpoint for the corporate teleworker in a shared, mixed-use environment, let the Wi-Fi-er beware.
