When we talk about upgrading wireless infrastructure to the latest Wi-Fi 6E standard, it is instinctive to focus on client computing devices and smart phones. That’s because organizations want to optimize the user wireless experience for their employees and customers, and understandably so. However, for a growing number of enterprises, there’s another critical component to their wireless environment: IoT (Internet of things!). Organizations are integrating a growing fleet of IoT devices to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies. In 2022 alone, the to 14.4 billion active devices. If you’re only looking at optimizing the wireless experience for users, do not ignore IoT’s half of the equation!

Wi-Fi 6E Offers IoT Exclusivity

A primary benefit of Wi-Fi 6E is the exclusive access it provides to the newly approved 6 GHz bandwidth frequency. It has four times the bandwidth capacity of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and supplies 1,200 MHz of extra spectrum. In all, this nearly doubles the amount of delivered throughput to clients that support the new wireless standard. It’s not just the increased bandwidth that Wi-Fi 6E provides, however. It is the ability to separate your most critical user and IoT workloads so they don’t have to compete with noisy legacy wireless devices.

Imagine for a moment all the IoT enabled technology solutions that are parachuting into the healthcare industry. Already, the average hospital utilizes 10 to 15 medical devices for each patient. That constitutes as many as 350,000 devices per hospital and we have barely witnessed the tip of the iceberg. Eventually, longtime surgeons will use augmented reality to rehearse complex surgeries and systems will monitor critically ill patients. These are clearly the types of systems you will want operating within one exclusive frequency.

Of course, it works both ways too. Many legacy and current IoT devices don’t require a great deal of bandwidth to function. This makes them ideal candidates to remain within the 2.4 GHz band, completely separated from Wi-Fi 6E enabled user devices and critical sensory devices. All of this is no problem for Juniper Wi-Fi 6E access points such as the and routers. These tri-band access points support 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz so they can handle the newest wireless stations on the market, while ensuring backwards compatibility with older devices that still serve their purpose.

The Need for Battery Life Extension

According to an EU funded study, 78 million batteries that power IoT devices will be dumped every day throughout the world by 2025 if nothing is done to improve a battery’s lifespan. Many IoT devices rely on batteries. Not only is a diminished battery life bad for the environment, but it also proves expensive to constantly replace them. The Wi-Fi 6E standard is helping aid this issue with its Target Wake Time (TWT) feature that reduces power consumption by empowering access points and wireless stations to negotiate their wake-up times to receive and send data. This not only saves power and promotes extended battery life, but it also reduces network congestion and prevents scheduled overlap in highly concentrated station environments.

Juniper IoT Assurance

While there are multiple companies today that provide Wi-Fi 6E solutions, only Juniper offers Mist IoT Assurance. Juniper Mist IoT Assurance is a cloud-based service that makes it easy for IoT devices to connect using a Multiple Pre-Shared Key (MPSK) mechanism in a secure fashion. Managing and securing the connection process for IoT devices has always proved challenging since the bulk of these devices are headless, meaning that they lack a GUI interface and operate without a keyboard or mouse. This hinders the ability to onboard, segment and manage IoT device credentials at scale. Juniper is changing all of that.

Unlike traditional solutions, its onboarding process doesn’t rely on MAC addresses. This makes it ideal for devices that utilize client MAC randomization. With its automatic PSK expiration that works in conjunction with automatic key rotation, organizations can now keep PSKs regularly rotated without the risk of service disruption regardless of deployment scale. Juniper IoT Assurance is 100% API programmable so you can easily integrate it with your preferred mobile device management solution to further streamline the provisioning processes for your fleet of IoT devices. Other features include location management and the ability to assign traffic policies based on PSK identity.

Soon, Juniper is expected to include built-in tools that will give customers the ability to create custom self-provisioning PSK portals that automatically generates PSKs according to user identity. Automatic client device provisioning will also be further simplified with QR codes or automatic Wi-Fi connection URLs without the need to install anything.

And Let’s Not Forget Marvis

Like other Juniper Mist solutions, your IT team can use natural language queries to communicate with Marvis. Marvis is a virtual network assistant that can perform help desk functionality at your verbal command. Marvis is always there working for you to determine the root cause of plaguing problems and perform automated remediation to solve them. It’s one more example of how Juniper is simplifying the management process of highly scaled IoT environments.

Conclusion

Wireless isn’t just about servicing user devices. Today, you need a wireless solution that provides equal functionality for IoT devices as well. Similarly, if you’re contemplating upgrading your wireless infrastructure to Wi-Fi 6, you’re missing out on the full set of capabilities available today with Wi-Fi 6E. Juniper and Wi-Fi 6E together is the complete solution to maximize your wireless enterprise.

Next Steps: Download our new white paper, to discover what critical capabilities your wireless network infrastructure is currently missing. This is information that every network administrator should read!

The post Level Up On IoT With Wi-Fi 6E appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

We’ve been talking a lot about Wi-Fi 6E this spring and summer season even though it was formally introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance way back in January 2021. So, why all the attention now? There are a lot of groundbreaking aspects of this exciting new technology as Wi-Fi 6E allows for more devices to connect at greater speeds than any of its predecessors. However, it is only now that devices are rolling off the assembly line with Wi-Fi 6E capability. The urgency to upgrade to this new protocol will only grow for enterprises as time goes by.

Still, we must not forget the wireless elephant in the room: Better performance and faster speeds do not amount to much of anything unless your enterprise’s wireless sessions are properly secured. The security threshold of today should always be a determining factor when considering the new technology of tomorrow, especially for wireless environments.

Wi-Fi 6E Is Mandated for WPA3

If your wireless infrastructure primarily relies on Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) as its wireless security protocol, then your system remains vulnerable to attacks that have been present for nearly two decades. That’s because WPA2 dates back to 2004 – the same year the Boston Red Sox broke their 86-year World Series curse. They have since won three more World Series titles, three different US presidents have taken office, and the iPod is far from removed as the most popular personal electronic device. A lot has happened since 2004, and it was good to see Twinkies make a comeback”¦

While Wi-Fi 5, also known as 802.11ac, does include WPA3 as an option, it isn’t enforced, so client devices can revert to the less secure protocol. This isn’t the case with Wi-Fi 6E. The Wi-Fi Alliance mandates the use of WPA3 for Wi-Fi 6E devices that operate in the 6 GHz band. In other words, if you want to experience the expanded boundaries of wireless network performance, you must abide by the increased security parameters.

Why WPA3 Is More Secure

For those that utilize pre-shared keys (PSK) for access authentication, WPA3 removes the ability for hackers to connect to your network using dictionary attacks. This has always been a weak point for WPA and WPA2 as hackers throw thousands of passwords from a list until they get one to hit. Of course, one could always create a 63-character length key consisting solely of gibberish, but let’s face it – how many IT administrators actually do that?

WPA3 replaces PSK authentication with something called Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE). While SAE still uses a passphrase, it isn’t sent between Wi-Fi devices during the SAE exchange. It also commits a device to one password guess for each authentication cycle by utilizing a new authentication handshake mechanism. This prevents an attacker from cycling through an endless password list in quick succession, making brute force attacks nearly irrelevant. While we do not recommend using “password123” or “qwerty” as your passphrase, WPA3 does help relieve the pressure of creating that perfect password.

For those organizations that currently use WPA2-Enterprise, WPA3 gives organizations the option of extending the length of the encryption key from 128 bits to 192 bits. It also requires the use of Protected Management Frames (PMF) that protects traffic from being eaves dropped and forged.

Open Access Now Means Encrypted Access

Providing wireless access to guest end users and the general public has always been tricky. Still, it is an expectation of the end user whenever visiting a business for a sales presentation or performing work in a cafe that requires internet access. Requiring PSK access requires some way to convey the passphrase to those who need it, while providing the convenience of wide-open access introduces austere security issues. Open wireless sessions are especially vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks in which an attacker intercepts the four-way handshake process of the unencrypted connection to lure users to connect a rogue wireless connection. The attacker can then intercept packets that traverse through their device. Wi-Fi 6E prevents this from happening by replacing open authentication with what’s called Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE). OWE merges convenience and security together because all sessions are encrypted with a secret key, regardless of whether access authentication is required or not. In similar fashion to WPA3, OWE support is mandatory for any devices operating within the 6 GHz band.

These Security Features Are Available In Wi-Fi 6…Right?

Almost. Wi-Fi 6E is a technical extension of the Wi-Fi 6 standard that was released in 2019, and yes, WPA3, SAE, OWE and PMF are each available in Wi-Fi 6. However, there is one big thing that isn’t – the 6 GHz frequency band. Not only does the 6 GHz band offer enhanced capacity and throughput, but it also gives an exclusive pipe that Wi-Fi 6E clients can operate in. This means no interference from noisy legacy devices that also rely on legacy security protocols. Because the mentioned security enhancements are mandated with this private frequency band, organizations that work toward a full integration of Wi-Fi 6E are ensured greater security across their entire wireless spectrum. Hands down, mandated security is preferable to optional security.

Backwards Compatibility

Juniper Networks has embraced this new high caliber wireless standard and currently offers two solutions to get you closer to greater security and speed. The Juniper and Juniper are tri-band access points that support not only the 6 GHz frequency, but the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz as well. This makes them backwards compatible so that you can accommodate your current legacy wireless devices while you work to work to upgrade your fleet of devices.

Conclusion

Upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 from Wi-Fi 5 is only a half-step upgrade. With Wi-Fi 6E, you get enhanced security and high performance in one package. Wi-Fi 6E is the complete experience, and with backwards compatibility built into the Juniper infrastructure, there’s no reason not to take advantage of everything that Wi-Fi 6E has to offer.

Next Steps: Download our new white paper, to discover what critical capabilities your wireless network infrastructure is currently missing. This is information that every network administrator should read!

The post Don’t Sleep On A Wireless Network Security Nightmare appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Wi-Fi 6E offers a lot of exciting features that can transform your wireless network environment. In fact, it is the only protocol that supports 6 GHz, so new clients don’t have to compete with legacy devices and experience interference from items such like security cameras, microwaves, etc. With four times the capacity of the traditional 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, Wi-Fi 6E accommodates high-volume workloads and easily handles bandwidth-consuming streaming technologies. The new standard is governed by WPA3, which offers far greater security than WPA2, as the latter continues having its share of known weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Skip Ahead To The Latest Wireless Network Standard

If your enterprise is still reliant on Wi-Fi 5, otherwise known as 802.11ac, it is time to upgrade from a technology that was first introduced nine years ago in 2013. While Wi-Fi 6 is certainly an upgrade from Wi-Fi 5, it doesn’t support 6 GHz and lacks the performance ability of Wi-Fi 6E. While few client machines support this newest standard, Juniper Networks has the infrastructure products required to make way for the stream of devices that that soon will. Juniper and Juniper are tri-band access points that support 2.4 GHZ, 5 GHz and the new 6 GHz frequencies. This gives them the ability to serve all clients, regardless of which frequency they need.

Simplifying Wireless Network Deployment

While there are substantial reasons to upgrade your current wireless network infrastructure, performing an extensive upgrade is never fun. Fortunately, outside of climbing onto a ladder and installing the access points to your office ceiling, Juniper has greatly simplified the deployment process. That includes the required maintenance, troubleshooting and optimization processes as well. Supporting Juniper’s Wi-Fi 6E devices is just as innovative as the technology it delivers – just plug the Juniper access point into your network and it will automatically connect to the Juniper Mist cloud. Once connected, it downloads its assigned configuration and joins the appropriate network. After that, it is ready to service wireless clients. No wireless controllers, no remoting into access points – you have a functioning wireless network in as much time as it takes to mount and connect the access points.

The ease of hands-free operation doesn’t stop after deployment. Firmware is automatically retrieved and installed to ensure that your access points are up to date with the latest bug fixes and security updates along with the newest features that bring added value to your infrastructure. The result is a wireless network that is stable, secure and predictable, allowing your internal IT team to focus on more important things than maintaining access points.

Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance

While Wi-Fi 6E gives you exclusive access to the 6 GHz band, Juniper access points give you, well, access to something that no other wireless vendor can – At a high level, Juniper Wi-Fi Assurance is a cloud service designed to maximize the Wi-Fi experience while minimizing IT support costs as it incorporates machine learning driven by Juniper Mist AI. This provided level of assurance is made possible by the automation of traditional manual troubleshooting and maintenance tasks. Even more, Mist gives network administrators complete visibility into all aspects of their wireless network.

In addition to observability, it builds real network intelligence about your network as it scours your environment for anomalies. If an anomaly is detected, Mist identifies it and captures packets to analyze and generates event correlation to other events to identify problems and remediate them before they significantly impact your network. Additional features that Mist provides include:

• • Customizable Wi-Fi service levels allow for the ability to set, monitor, and enforce service-level expectations for key Wi-Fi performance metrics.
  • The Proactive Analytics and Correlation Engine gives you the ability to identify the root causes of plaguing problems with a few clicks of the mouse and to fix them permanently.
  • Analyze and extract network insights from up to 30 days of data across your wireless ecosphere.
  • A highly scalable guest access solution that provides external captive portal integration that supports multiple languages, customizable branding, and social login capability.

Meet Marvis

There’s one more critical piece that Juniper Wi-Fi 6E devices and the Mist platform each provide: a virtual network assistant (VNA). Marvis, who we have mentioned before in our blog, utilizes both natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU) to serve as the conversational interface for your Juniper systems. Marvis doesn’t just understand words and phrases, it can also understand user intent. Marvis can perform prescriptive actions upon command, but more importantly, it never stops learning about your environment to optimize the user experience of your wireless users. Marvis essentially becomes your help desk, solving problems without creating tickets for them.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that Wi-Fi 6E is going to take wireless enterprises to the next level, and our team is prepared to help you do so. Learn how Juniper Networks’ Wi-Fi 6E product solutions can transform your wireless environment today.

Next Steps: Download our new white paper, to discover what critical capabilities your wireless network infrastructure is currently missing. This is information that every network administrator should read!

The post Make Your Wireless Network Upgrade Easy With Wi-Fi 6E appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.