• SonicOS 7
• Wireless Overview
  • Device Support
  • Compliance
  • Considerations for Using Wireless Connections
  • Adjusting the Antennas
  • Wireless Node Count Enforcement
  • About MAC Address Filtering
• Status
  • WLAN Settings
  • WLAN Statistics
  • WLAN Activities
  • Station Status
• Settings
  • Access Point
    • Access Point Wireless Settings
      • 802.11n Wireless Settings
      • 802.11a/b/g Wireless Settings
      • 802.11ac Wireless Settings
    • Wireless Virtual Access Point
  • Wireless WDS Station
  • Access Point & WDS Station
• Security
  • About Authentication
  • Configuring the WEP Settings
  • Configuring WPA3/WPA2/WPA PSK Settings
  • Configuring WPA3/WPA2/WPA EAP Settings
• Advanced
  • Beaconing and SSID Controls
  • Green Access Point
  • Advanced Radio Settings
    • Configurable Antenna Diversity
• MAC Filter List
  • Deployment Considerations
  • Configuring MAC Filter List
• IDS - Wireless Intrusion Detection Service
  • Configuring IDS Settings
  • Discovered Access Points
• Virtual Access Point
  • Wireless Virtual AP Configuration Task List
  • Virtual Access Point Profiles
    • Virtual Access Point Schedule Settings
    • Virtual Access Point Profile Settings
      • WEP Encryption Settings
      • WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK Encryption Settings
      • RADIUS Server Settings
    • ACL Enforcement
  • Virtual Access Point Objects
  • Virtual Access Point Groups
  • Enabling the Virtual Access Point Group
• SonicWall Support
  • About This Document

Wireless Overview

Only SonicWall wireless security appliances (TZ wireless platforms) display the pages under DEVICE | Internal Wireless for configuring wireless settings on the appliance.

The SonicWall wireless security appliances support wireless protocols IEEE 802.11a, 802.11ac, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n and send data through radio transmissions. These transmissions are commonly known as Wi-Fi or wireless. The SonicWall wireless security appliance combines three networking components to offer a fully secure wireless firewall: an Access Point, a secure wireless gateway, and a stateful firewall with flexible NAT and VPN termination as well as initiation capabilities. With this combination, the wireless security appliance offers the flexibility of wireless without compromising network security.

Typically, the wireless security appliance is the access point for your wireless LAN and serves as the central access point for computers on your LAN. In addition, it shares a single broadband connection with the computers on your network. Because the wireless security appliance also provides firewall protection, intruders from the Internet cannot access the computers or files on your network. This is especially important for an “always-on” connection such as a DSL or T1 line that is shared by computers on a network.

However, wireless LANs are vulnerable to “eavesdropping” by other wireless networks, which means you should establish a wireless security policy for your wireless LAN. On the wireless security appliance, wireless clients connect to the Access Point layer of the firewall. Instead of bridging the connection directly to the wired network, wireless traffic is first passed to the Secure Wireless Gateway layer where the client is required to be authenticated through User Level Authentication. Wireless access to Guest Services and MAC Filter Lists are managed by the wireless security appliance. If all of the security criteria are met, then wireless network traffic can then pass through one of the following distribution systems:

• LAN
• WAN
• Wireless Client on the WLAN
• DMZ or other zone
• VPN tunnel

See the following topics for more information about using SonicWall wireless security appliances.

• Device Support
• Compliance
• Considerations for Using Wireless Connections
• Adjusting the Antennas
• Wireless Node Count Enforcement
• About MAC Address Filtering

See the following topics for information about using the SonicOS 7 Internal Wireless web management pages.

• Status
• Settings
• Security
• Advanced
• MAC Filter List
• IDS - Wireless Intrusion Detection Service
• Virtual Access Point