Transparent filtering + Ruckus

[BassTech]

We are getting Ruckus wireless installed soon, and I am looking at setting up our network so that the users connect, enter the password and that's it. No proxy settings needed.

I've been browsing the forum and google, but still a little confused with it all.

 

We have RM SafetyNet+ with transparent filtering - Is that all we would need to achieve this goal? I know a lot of people use WPAD/PAC files but I'm not sure if we would need this as well. We currently don't have any VLANs in school.

 

Advice welcome

[dhicks]

We have RM SafetyNet+ with transparent filtering - Is that all we would need to achieve this goal?

 

So you don't currently need to put any proxy details into any network settings, you simply plug a machine into a wired connection and it gets dished out an IP address via DHCP and away it goes? Adding a Ruckus wireless network should be exactly the same - a machine connects to your wireless SSID, gets given a DHCP address and away it goes. The wireless "network" won't actually be a separate network, unless you specifically set it up that way by placing it on a separate VLAN or something. To be honest, that's probably a good idea if you're having random student devices connect, but even then you just set up a DHCP server that gives appropriate details for a gateway and so forth to use, there shouldn't be any need to add proxy settings.

[BassTech]

At the moment we do because we don't have transparent filtering enabled yet (waiting on RM). All internet traffic currently goes through our RM SmartCache2 server.

When we do enable transparent filtering, how do the guest devices get filtered if a proxy server isn't specified?

For example; Kid brings in iPhone, finds our SSID, enters the password...how does it then 'find' the internet?

 

All this BYOD is new to me, so apologies for the lack of technical knowledge

[dhicks]

For example; Kid brings in iPhone, finds our SSID, enters the password...how does it then 'find' the internet?

 

Their iPhone gets given an IP address by your DHCP server, along with the IP address of your Internet gateway. Your network is probably already set up like this, so there's probably not that much to change. Of course, there's nothing to stop a malicious / curious / clumsy / daft child setting the IP address of their iPhone to anything they want, including the IP address of the gateway or of one of your servers, with hilarious consequences.

[BassTech]

Their iPhone gets given an IP address by your DHCP server, along with the IP address of your Internet gateway. Your network is probably already set up like this, so there's probably not that much to change. Of course, there's nothing to stop a malicious / curious / clumsy / daft child setting the IP address of their iPhone to anything they want, including the IP address of the gateway or of one of your servers, with hilarious consequences.

 

I see, that makes sense. That part I still don't understand is, going back to the kid's iPhone scenario, that they can't browse the net without the proxy server being specified

So, kid connects, gets IP from our DHCP server, as well as the default gateway, but when they try the internet they get "this webpage cannot be displayed" unless I manually input our proxy server into the iPhone network settings.

[dhicks]

That part I still don't understand is, going back to the kid's iPhone scenario, that they can't browse the net without the proxy server being specified

So, kid connects, gets IP from our DHCP server, as well as the default gateway, but when they try the internet they get "this webpage cannot be displayed" unless I manually input our proxy server into the iPhone network settings.

 

But you don't have transparent filtering set up yet, your gateway isn't going to forward data to/from the Internet like a standard gateway. Wait until RM set you up with a transparent proxy (or, if impaitient, set up a Squid trsnparent proxy yourself), then it should work as described.

[BassTech]

Ah, ok, think I need to read up a bit more on how transparent proxies work

Thanks for your help!