• SonicWave 600 series
• Deployment Scenarios Overview
  • SonicWave 600 Series Deployment Considerations
  • SonicWave 600 Series Deployment Scenarios
• Wireless Access Point Placement Considerations
  • Radio Frequency Barriers
  • RF Interference
• Software Configuration
  • Configuring SonicOS for Wireless Access
    • Firewall-based Configuration
    • Cloud-based Configuration
  • Wireless Cloud Management Overview
    • WiFi Cloud Manager
    • WiFi Planner
    • WiFi Cloud Manager Mobile application
  • Integration with other SonicWall Software
• Managing the SonicWave with a Firewall
  • Configuring the SonicWave Provisioning Profile
  • Configuring the Network Interface
  • Configuring the WLAN Zone
• Deploying a SonicWave with Wireless Network Manager
  • Licensing Requirements
  • Registering and Deploying the SonicWave
    • Registering the SonicWave
    • Accessing the Wireless Network Manager
    • Deploying with the Wireless Network Manager
    • Creating a Zone Policy
    • Linking the Policy to the Zone
• Using SonicPoint FairNet Bandwidth Limit Policies
  • SonicPoint FairNet Features
  • Configuring SonicPoint FairNet
• SonicWall Support
  • About This Document

Deployment Scenarios Overview

Welcome to the SonicWall SonicWave Deployment Guide. This guide provides a complete description of the hardware overview and configuration, software configuration, managing the SonicWave with a SonicOS and Wireless Network Manager (WNM)

SonicWall SonicWave 600 series Wireless Access Points (APs) are based on the Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax ) standard and offer excellent performance and security. SonicWave comes with industry-validated security features, including Content Filtering, Application Control, Capture ATP, Geo-IP, Botnet, and Gateway Anti-virus (Cloud). These secure APs can be managed via the cloud using SonicWall Wireless Network Manager (WNM) or SonicWall firewalls. They also provide additional features to improve user experience while delivering the top-notch performance and security.

The SonicWave APs are easy to set up and use. They work with the SonicWave WNM, which is an intuitive, scalable, and centralized Wi-Fi network management system. It provides detailed wireless and switching analytics and offers a simple on-boarding process through the cloud. The APs also work with WiFi Planner, a tool that helps you design and deploy a wireless network more efficiently, reducing the overall cost. With RF spectrum analysis, you can find and address sources of RF interference and monitor the health of the wireless system.

When we add new SSIDs to the AP Policies on the WNM portal, the firewall assigns a random virtual IP to the SSID, pointing to the Access Point's MAC address. This virtual IP redirects users to the SonicWave's Management Page. To prevent this, disable the Proxy Client DNS Request On Bridge Mode option under WNM > SSID Profiles > Advanced > DNS.

Before deploying access points (APs), it's important to conduct an RF survey analysis. In the WNM, you can access general information and configuration options related to the radio frequencies of the access points under the Air Marshal > RF survey feature. In SonicOS, on the Device > Access Points > IDS page, you can view reports on all devices detected by the firewall and its associated access points. These reports also provide the ability to authorize legitimate devices. Additionally, the reports include the dB value, which indicates the signal strength observed by our APs from their perspective.

Most SonicWave access points include a separate radio dedicated to security, which performs rogue AP detection, passive scanning and packet capturing. In WNM, due to hardware limitations, the separate scan radio only supports 802.11ac/n/a mode; hence, there is no 802.11ax/ac/n/a mixed mode on the WNM > Air Marshal > Packet Capture page.