Deployment Timeline
The continuous growth of mobile computing has led to stronger calls for secure wireless network access, especially in education. For many schools, there has been a natural progression to use more technology to benefit a student’s learning. As more schools use BYOD to supplement classroom learning, there has been increased demand for secure wireless access.
This was becoming increasingly apparent to the district in this story. Marcé , the school district’s Operations Manager, knew the school district needed a BYOD onboarding solution and needed it fast. In the search for a solution, the school district discovered SecureW2, and was able to deploy our solutions within a month of first contacting us.
Challenges
Marcé rightfully anticipated that providing secure and user-friendly W-Fi access would be a challenge given the volume and diversity in mobile devices. Web-based educational tools and materials have become the norm for K-12 districts, so providing secure access for BYOD and district-owned devices is imperative for students and staff.
The school set out to find an affordable solution that would allow students to easily access the WPA2-Enterprise network from their BYOD devices without the need for lengthy configuration guides or requiring the service desk to touch each device.
The decision was made to deploy secure wireless using WPA2-Enterprise and 802.1x authentication to offer the highest level of security to students. A challenge arose because access to their secure network would require end user manual configuration. The manual process is complex and those without a technical background will not understand the high-level steps. Adding to the challenge is the fact that students and staff demand access from a wide range of devices and operating systems, each requiring different steps for configuring and connecting to secure wireless.
Solutions
The school searched for an affordable solution that would allow students to easily access the WPA2-Enterprise network from their BYOD devices without the need for lengthy configuration guides or requiring the service desk to touch each device.
They found SecureW2’s JoinNow MultiOs, an onboarding application that makes configuring devices for secure network access effortless for the end user. It’s as simple as navigating to the JoinNow portal. From there, JoinNow will detect the user’s operating system and the device will download our dissolvable client, which will configure the device for certificates without the need for additional user input.
Today, when a student or staff member wants to connect to the WPA2-Enterprise network for the first time from their personal device, they are effortlessly directed to JoinNow deployment. After confirming their identity, the device is securely configured for WPA2-Enterprise and is distributed a certificate for network authentication. No additional IT help is necessary since the end-user is connected automatically going forward. The process can be completed in under a minute.
Evaluating Success
Using JoinNow helps free up precious IT resources and countless man-hours that would otherwise be spent connecting users or troubleshooting issues with the wireless network.
JoinNow removes the complexities of 802.1x and WPA2-Enterprise onboarding. Eliminating manual configuration takes the burden off the end user and prevents wasted time at the IT help desk.
Today, Marcé can rest assured knowing students and staff can onboard BYOD quickly and securely. SecureW2 offers cost-effective solutions for high-quality network security, check out our pricing page.