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I have a flat network with around 700 devices on it. I've never realy got Vlans and how they work and it seemed to add complexity. I know I can offer tagged vlans through my APs but I was once trailing this and my switches started to dissapear so I quit the test. I can't quite get what is going on. It seemed that the second the AP sent tagged traffic the switch it was connected to became unpingable? I hadn't yet configured the switch to do anything? in anycase I have some switches connected to others how do I configure their uplinks so they don't start doing the same an killing large portions of my network. I understand I can set an untagged port on my switch that is infact tagged by the switch instead. I also understand that I need to have different ip ranges on each VLAN? Why for routing? I want them isolated from each other. Only the servers need to see all the traffic so, can send them all the tagged traffic? and not setup multiple DCHP servers / ranges? Does anyone have vlans for dummies?

Ok, Quick question, I work in a High School and ive been asked to research into setting up Guest Access on are wireless for users that don't work in are school and things like Iphones etc without having to give out the WEP Key to teachers and such like. All I want them to have is Internet Access nothing more like file sharing etc. I've noticed the new Apple Access points can do this, AirPort Extreme Base Station - Apple Store (U.K.) (See guest access) we have Cisco Aironet 1230AG points all over the school and i was wondering if anyones had any experience in configuring them?? We are a brand new school (well 2 years old) so are tech department has pretty new equipment and i hope are points can do this. Thanks Steve

Hi there, We are looking at rolling out guest access for parents, ideally automating as much of the procedure through Salamander as we can, are there any other schools that have rolled out guest access with parents? If you have, how have you found the process? Any issues from a technical & administrative point of view? Appreciate any information we can get.

Hi All, I'm working on a system that is mainly for use with our wireless system which uses a Windows RADIUS server to authenticate users onto our SSIDs. Although that's the main purpose it also can be used for general "guest" computer access as well as any system internally that uses AD to authenticate (in our case - helpdesk, booking software, etc.). At its base it's a simple php script that allows any current (or designated - I currently have it set to any "staff" user (in the AD security group "staff")) AD user log in and fill out a php form that will automatically create a new account in active directory. That account will be made with a defined prefix, "guest_" for example, and created in the specified AD OU, "GuestUsers" for example, with an expiration date and time controlled by the form. Also in the form is additional information such as the guests name, location they will be in, what staff member is "sponsoring" the guest. In addition to the script creating the user automatically a separate powershell script is used as a scheduled task on any domain controller which looks at the expired guest users and removes them. This is purely for the fact of "cleaning up" old guests and making the username that was used for them available again. Below are some screenshots of the system. It is currently functional but I will be adding some additional features and cleaning up a lot of the code before actually using it. It works local on a LAN but I also tested it from a remote website and with a little tweaking of the LDAP connection was able to get it successfully working there as well. It also is responsive in its design (uses bootstrap) for mobile devices. A base list of its current features: LDAP/AD login Choose what users can create a guest account Users choose guest account expiration (1 hour, 1 day, 2 day, etc.) Users choose guest username and password for ease of use Additional information gathered for system logging (location, purpose, guest first and last name, staff creating the account) Error catch for duplicate users Printable "ticket" to give to the guest on creation Automated creation of guest account in active directory/ldap with user's inputted information Automatic "cleaning" of old expired guest accounts via scheduled task on domain controller Responsive design (bootstrap) for mobile Some features to add: History for staff users (will show a record of guests they "sponsored" in the past, when those expired, what username/password they gave them, etc.) Log system (for admin/technical use - lookup right in the script user sponsor history, search for guest name, username, etc.) A few more checks to ensure a duplicate is not being created and/or a safe fail that creates a user anyways with a randomly generated number after it. Login screen (uses LDAP/AD credentials) Registration form to fill out guest details Sample form filled, dropdown of account expiration options Successful registration of guest account Duplicate error Printable "ticket" to hand to guest AD user created I honestly don't know if this would ever be useful to others or if it has or hasn't been created before. I search a bit and figured I could just make it myself and customize it to our needs. If it would be useful for others I can share the system once it's cleaned up a bit. I'm also open to suggestions for some improvements or additions to the system. Thanks!

Hi All, I want to VLAN my HP switches so i can make a guest wi-fi. All the switch's were installed before i started working in my school so i have no documentation. I have found there IP addresses in DHCP but this doesn't give me a clue where they are psychically! I see they have a serial port with console written under neath. Does anyone know how to access the management console on a HP Procurve 2425 with a serial cable on a windows 7 machine? Thank you for any help.

We currently have a ZoneDirector and several AP’s in our school. We have setup three SSIDs, (staff, students and guests). The staff WLAN has no VLAN attached to it (default network is VLAN 1), the student and guest WLANs are set to tag to VLAN 2. We have a DHCP server on VLAN 2 which student/guest wireless clients are able to receive IP settings from but then are unable to ping the DHCP server or browse the internet. We have attached the wireless client to the wired network in VLAN 2 and are able to receive IP settings and browse the internet without any problems. We are setting the VLAN for the student/guest WLAN by using the Advanced Options “Set Default VLAN ID to”.

Ok, Quick question, I work in a High School and ive been asked to research into setting up Guest Access on are wireless for users that don't work in are school and things like Iphones etc without having to give out the WEP Key to teachers and such like. All I want them to have is Internet Access nothing more like file sharing etc. I've noticed the new Apple Access points can do this, AirPort Extreme Base Station - Apple Store (U.K.) (See guest access) we have Cisco Aironet 1230AG points all over the school and i was wondering if anyones had any experience in configuring them?? We are a brand new school (well 2 years old) so are tech department has pretty new equipment. I understand a VLAN would have to be setup but I admit I have no previous experience of doing this and would be grateful for any assistance! So I guess I need to configure my access points and my switches? Thanks Steve

Hi, We have win2k3 server with ISA doing all our web filtering and PaperCut NG doing all our charging. All machines are registered on the Domain via AD and GPO controls everything. Users log on and gpo and logon scrips manage experience based on machine location and type and user type. What I would like to do is have a way of allowing staff but mainly students to bring in their own laptop, PSP, smartphone, etc and hook on to our network without IT support. What I want to happen is that they detect our wireless network, or plug directly into a wired port, and from there get auto directed to some web page or similar that authenticates them somehow. Once authenticated they can have access to internet, printers, folder shares, and other domain resources as per their authentication privileges. If they don't authenticate, then we can either block them, or offer them a variety of guest accounts (visiting staff), or give them the choice to pay for our network service via some coupon system. Is there anyone out there doing this already and could point me in the direction of where I could find software solutions to install on our servers to achieve this. Apart from Office staff who would have domain joined desktops, eventually I would have no other desktops and the students and staff could choose their own (mac, pc, *nix, whatever) laptop, network capable device and hook on. I am not worried about software compatibility at this stage, as I know having multiple OSes would mean multiple document platforms (ie MSWord on Mac/PC versus OpenDoc etc) I have a plan for that problem. So again, are there any off the shelf solutions out there ie Cafe Hotspot style access that is good for a school situation. PS: we have simple wireless APs, but have good switches with VLAN support etc. Cheers James

Hi All, I'm looking for an alternative to Aruba ClearPass in terms of AAA, BYOD and Guest solution. Not worried about the wireless. DO you chaps have any recommendations? Cheers J

we have shared 6th form and invite them to team groups as guests. How do I apply a teams meeting policy to guest users. (as they are starting meetings)

Hello During the last couple of weeks of school closure, we had something of a problem with students inviting other students 1. to live meetings 2. to join their Class Team 1. We do have the lobby option by default, but they were getting clever - it transpires that they can go the meeting options of a live meeting (even a 'Meet Now') and get the link to the meeting. They then send this to a friend (or themselves) and rejoin anonymously - changing their display name to match the syntax of actual student display names. The teacher admits them as they know no different and then chaos ensues. According to this UserVoice, it has previously been completed, but if it was...it's back! (https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/599053-schools-and-universities/suggestions/42010276-edu-we-need-to-have-more-control-for-join-link) (https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/599053-schools-and-universities/suggestions/42705083-disable-the-copy-join-info-for-attendees-studen) Furthermore, if you join via Android, you don't get tagged with '(Guest)' as one should (https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/555103-public/suggestions/42704864-guest-status-not-showing-when-connected-via-mobile) 2. Students can invite anyone else to join a Team - ok, the teacher has to approve it, but the less savvy might just do this and it's just a nuisance (https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/599053-schools-and-universities/suggestions/42871437-restrict-ability-for-students-to-add-member-to-tea) I'm wondering - have you seen this? Are you bovvered? Have you found solutions? Can you upvote for the UV posts please? (are we allowed to ask that?)

Hi, I am thinking about how to set up a secure guest VLAN with it's own DHCP scope and DNS etc to keep it separate from the main network. We currently have everything on VLAN 1. Switches are mainly 3com or HP with a pair of 3com 5500s at the core. We have ruckus for wireless I have managed to create a VLAN to test it out and these are the problems I've had so far: Internet doesn't work because the ip range is different to the RBC assigned range - do I need to use NAT somehow or reserve some IPs from the main range Proxy setting guest devices: ideally I want all guest devices to use port 80 and not need to enter proxy settings for max compatibility. I'm looking into removing the proxy altogether and using lightspeed as the filter. I'm trying to find a system that is simple to configure and maintain. Do I need a NAT hardware router, that can also do guest DHCP and DNS? Can anyone suggest anything? Thanks,