As more and more people roam this earth armed with smart phones, tablets and all manner of communications devices, they pretty much expect to have wireless 
Internet access all the time. And being outside at, say, a corporate barbecue or a sporting event is no excuse not to have connectivity. Similarly, first-responders in emergency situations often need Internet access in places where such access doesn’t normally exist – and fast.
The answer is a temporary wireless LANs, which are becoming quite easy to set up, according to Chris Williams, a systems engineer with Carousel Industries. “If you want to deploy a wireless network anywhere, you can do it in about a minute,” Williams says. All that’s required is a remote access point (RAP), some kind of connection to your corporate network and, voila – an instant WLAN.
Of course if you want it to work effectively, there are some issues to consider, including these three.
Determine WLAN Coverage Area and User Population
The Aruba RAPs that Carousel typically deploys come in two models. The RAP-2WG, intended for home or small branch offices, has two wired Ethernet ports, one of which is used to connect to the Internet. That device is good for maybe one to four wireless users, Williams says. The RAP-5WG has one 10/100/1000M Ethernet port and four 10/100M Ethernet ports and can support about 40 wireless users, he says. Multiple RAPs can be deployed in the same area to expand capacity, he notes, with each covering about 2,000 square feet. So you just need to determine the size of the area where you need coverage and estimate the number of users. The devices are simple enough to install that IT staff isn’t really required.
Handling Guest Access on a Temporary WLAN
Once installed, the RAPs will find the Aruba controller back at corporate. Then IT will need to decide how to handle issues such as guest access. The RAPs support split tunneling, Williams says, so you can set up a secure VPN tunnel back to corporate and another tunnel that goes straight to the Internet. Authorized corporate users who want to get at corporate file servers and such use the VPN; guests use the other tunnel, allowing them to check email, browse the web and the like. When they first log in, guests are directed to a captive portal, where they can enter a user ID and password that IT supplies. Alternatively, the Aruba RAPs can be set up to capture information such as credit card numbers if you are going to charge for Internet access.
Ensuring Proper Security on a Temporary WLAN
For security, the Aruba devices enable IT to use the same access policies that exist in corporate on the temporary WLAN, Williams says. Authorized users authenticate just as they do on the headquarters LAN, through the RADIUS or Active Directory server at corporate. WPA and WPA2 are also supported. “The main controller sits at corporate and you’re extending all the same firewall policies on the campus LAN out to wherever the RAPs are,” he says. “With some other solutions you may not have that capability. If you don’t have a RADIUS server at each location you may not be able to extend those services.” Rather, you’d need a firewall, router or some other device to create the VPN that the Aruba RAPs create automatically, he says.
With temporary WLANs so simple to deploy, there’s really no reason to let users go without connectivity no matter what the location. And for emergency situations, setting up an Aruba-based temporary WLAN could literally be a lifesaver.
