Centralized approach for a unified wireless network access

Abstract

In this paper, a concept is presented that allows to deploy a unified wireless network access for all employees in organizations with heterogeneous network environments. It is designed to be easy to implement and to maintain. Also, it focuses on usability, removing the need for manual actions to obtain network access when roaming between locations. The concept has been tested in the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, and has proven to solve its requirements. It can be deployed with only a small team thanks to the reduced complexity in the branch locations, and it can also be maintained without much effort since ongoing manual tasks have been avoided. Since it is based on open standards, it can easily be customized to match the requirements of the individual organization, or be extended with future improvements. For research and education organizations it is particularly useful that this concept can be integrated with eduroam seamlessly. This allows not only the own employees to roam between locations, but also guests from other participating institutions.