Organizations often see a daily influx of visitors who introduce various unfamiliar devices and connectivity needs. These guests all share a common expectation: That is, high-performance connectivity that lets them be productive during their brief stay on the premises.
That said, providing guest Wi-Fi access within an organization traditionally has been a complex and resource-intensive task for IT teams. IT personnel regularly update and manage various network configurations. This involves tasks such as adjusting wireless LAN settings, provisioning VLANs and IP subnets, updating firewall rules and zones to ensure traffic and device isolation and often maintaining an anchor controller and DHCP server in the demilitarized zone.
The manual nature of these tasks also increases the risk of human error in defining and managing security rules. A single misconfiguration or oversight could potentially expose sensitive corporate data to external threats. This vulnerability underscores the need for a more streamlined and automated approach to guest Wi-Fi provisioning that not only reduces the burden on IT teams but also enhances the security posture of the organization.
All these tasks have contributed to additional costs and administrative overhead for the IT department. Modern solutions are obviously needed.
Nile, a provider of next-generation enterprise networks, is set to disrupt the enterprise network market by modernizing IT operations with a new architecture, one built from the ground up to be delivered entirely as a service. One step toward that is achieved through the introduction of Nile Guest Service, a new solution that allows enterprises to provide guest internet access that ensures that corporate resources are secured and isolated from guests.
Eliminating the burden on IT networking and security teams while simplifying the process with a single click through a captive portal, this solution handles every aspect of guest Wi-Fi access, including device isolation and IP address management. It securely directs visitor traffic flows from the Nile network, which is installed within an enterprise building, to the nearest Nile point of presence.
What makes Nile Guest Service stand out is that guest traffic is attributed to a Nile IP address, rather than a customer IP address. This means that IT teams are no longer required to act as the first point of contact for inquiries from authorities that may arise due to improper use of guest access. Instead, these requests are efficiently directed to Nile's support team, relieving IT of this responsibility and enhancing the overall ease and security of guest Wi-Fi provisioning.
"Nile Guest Service automatically applies cloud native, zero trust principles to guest access and takes one more worry off of IT's plate without taking a big bite of their budget," said Suresh Katukam, Nile's chief product officer and co-founder.
Nile Guest Service is an extension of the zero trust networking principles that are at the core of the company's Nile Access Service and is offered as an optional add-on.
Edited by
Alex Passett
