How to Secure WiFi with Username and Password – IEEE 802.11 Security

cisco-wirelessieee 802.11network accessSecurity

We have internet access in both LAN and WLAN in our offices which is only used to internet access.

How do we enable a password based authentication in this infrastructure so that authenticated user will type a user name and password first to gain access to the Internet services? Whenever a user will connect to a SSID the system will prompt for a user name and password. After verifying the user name and password the user will be given internet access.

I have read many articles on it and came to know RADIUS server can be one solution for this. I look forward how to configure one with Ubuntu Linux (preferably) and store user name and password in a database (if possible) so that the server will authenticate only those users.

Best Answer

Consider looking into PacketFence(.org) + FreeRADIUS.

PacketFence describes itself as :

PacketFence is a fully supported, trusted, Free and Open Source network access control (NAC) solution. Boasting an impressive feature set including a captive-portal for registration and remediation, centralized wired and wireless management, powerful BYOD management options, 802.1X support, layer-2 isolation of problematic devices; PacketFence can be used to effectively secure networks small to very large heterogeneous networks.

(Emphasis mine.)

When users first attempt to connect to the network, you can require that they authenticate using a username and password, as shown in this example image from PF's website : http://www.packetfence.org/typo3temp/pics/3623b54ba0.png

As for (Free)RADIUS, PacketFence's administration guide has this to say :

In some occasions, a RADIUS server is mandatory in order to give access to the network. For example, the usage of WPA2-Enterprise (Wireless 802.1X), MAC authentication and Wired 802.1X all requires a RADIUS server to authenticate the users and the devices, and then to push the proper VLAN to the network equipment. We strongly recommend that you install FreeRADIUS even if you plan not to use the feature now.

Unfortunately I can't exactly include a whole configuration guide in this answer, but there is good documentation available on the PacketFence site.

Best of luck !

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