Hi,
We are thinking of installing a basic wireless network for visitors to the office, for presentations etc, where they need laptop access but don't continually wish to call the IT department to get cables patched through etc.
Currently how I do this is to have a router on a separate subnet (just a home based router), and have a simple switch off this and patch the cables directly through this. Users are using our cabling, but the system is not on our network.
We have been asked to try and make the network wireless enabled in some points, and I am wondering what the best way of doing this safely is?
The sort of things I am thinking of are:
- How do we administer it? I want it to be simple for users to connect to, but feel I should be doing more than the simple WPA (shared passkey) stuff.
- I will probably have to get another switch in, and enable PPOE, to allow the access points to be run without separate cables. How is it best to cable the points into the rooms securely, or should I connect them in cupboards etc where generally they are difficult to access?
- I only want to use one SSID, but the places I want the network will mean I can't use wireless bridging - because they will only be in specific areas.
- Is there anything else I should think about, is it a really bad idea? The company doesn't need wireless for anything else, as the users are stationary and connected through cables underneath the desks.
- What sort of products should I think about looking at?
We are a Cisco shop throughout so although it doesn't need to be Cisco based it would probably be a good idea.
Any suggestions? Thanks, Andrew.