Android dominates the smartphone market today, with more than half of all smartphones currently in use running some version of the mobile operating system. However, Android smartphones and tablets are notoriously challenging to provision for WPA2-Enterprise and 802.1X networks. JoinNow MultiOS solves these challenges across all devices, streamlining user onboarding and reducing support needs and costs.
Authenticating Android to 802.1X Networks
Android is far and away the most diverse mobile platform on the market, with thousands of devices and countless variations of the Android OS. Properly configuring these diverse, unmanaged Android devices for WPA2-Enterprise is a significant challenge.
Server certificate validation is a necessary component of any WPA2-Enterprise and 802.1X deployment. Setting and configuring the trusted server certificate on the end-user device is the best way to guard against man-in-the-middle attacks, ensuring that your users aren’t unwittingly transmitting their credentials to hackers.
However, installing and configuring CA certificates on Android is particularly difficult. The Android OS often does not expose critical security settings to the user, creating significant security and usability issues. Additionally, providing standard manual configuration instructions for Android users means that a large percentage of users will not be able to reliably configure and connect, as network settings and instructions vary widely across Android devices. Apart from the security risk, this also leads to end-user frustration and a significant increase in help desk call volume and support costs.
The Solution for Onboarding Android to WPA2 Networks
JoinNow programmatically and automatically installs trusted CA certificates for Android users. It works with the native supplicant installed on all versions of Android, across all device types and from all manufacturers. JoinNow eliminates the common challenges of WPA2-Enterprise and 802.1X, allowing you to leverage the security of certificates and RADIUS server validation without the hassle of manually installing certificates or configuring WPA2-Enterprise/802.1X settings on Android and other mobile devices.