WatchGuard further expands secure Wi-Fi portfolio

WatchGuard Technologies has continued expansion of its Secure Wi-Fi portfolio with the release of two new access points (APs). The AP225W and the AP327X offer Wi-Fi performance and scalability and the ability to extend Trusted Wireless Environments into multi-dwelling unit (MDU) deployments and harsh outdoor environments.

According to a new report from independent product test centre, Miercom, no other brand of wireless AP can deliver a Trusted Wireless Environment that automatically detects and prevents all six known Wi-Fi threat categories. The report also found that WatchGuard APs can serve as a WIPS overlay for wireless networks made up of competing solutions that are susceptible to these Wi-Fi attacks.

“As organisations of all sizes increasingly rely on wireless connectivity for day-to-day operations, secure Wi-Fi is a modern business imperative. That’s why WatchGuard is committed to developing Wi-Fi solutions that are simple, powerful and capable of delivering Trusted Wireless Environments. These new APs are the latest example of our efforts to expand the types of organisations and environments we’re able to protect,” said Brendan Patterson, Vice President of Product Management at WatchGuard. “As we continue to see many leading vendors under-prioritise wireless security, we urge every organisation and IT solution provider to carefully assess their current Wi-Fi systems to determine if they can automatically mitigate today’s most prevalent Wi-Fi threats.”

Flexible and secure

Designed to provide fast and secure Wi-Fi connectivity to organisations with high volumes of users siloed within a single location, WatchGuard’s new wall plate AP225W is perfect for MDU environments such as dorm rooms, shared office spaces, apartment blocks, assisted living facilities, military housing units and hotels. This AP comes equipped with dual-concurrent 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz band radios and supports data rates up to 867 GHz and 400 Mbps respectively, delivering broad, fast and reliable Wi-Fi coverage. For schools and businesses during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, this type of secure, fast Wi-Fi access will be critical to support remote learning and operations and social distancing. Administrators can also connect up to three network devices to the AP using one 802.3af PoE output port, while simultaneously using its three Ethernet ports, to dramatically reduce cabling and switching costs.

In addition to its enterprise-grade performance, the AP225W offers simple cloud-based management capabilities and WatchGuard’s patented Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) technology to block Wi-Fi attacks. For managed service providers (MSPs), the product’s flexibility and security features offer a compelling way to differentiate from the competition, secure new customers in MDU markets and establish new revenue streams.

Meeting outdoor connectivity demands

The global outdoor Wi-Fi market is projected to reach US$63.25 billion by the end of 2023, (up from US$28.51 billion in 2017). WatchGuard’s new AP327X is designed to deliver fast, secure Wi-Fi connectivity in environments with challenging outdoor dynamics such as warehouses, manufacturing yards, shopping centres, public and municipal Wi-Fi zones, campsites and more. This new model features an IP67-rated enclosure and comes equipped with four N-Type connectors that support a variety of external antennas, which provide the flexible, omni-directional antenna pattern coverage capabilities often required in harsher outdoor environments.

Enabled with cloud-based management and WatchGuard’s WIPS, MSPs can leverage the new AP327X’s capabilities to both establish new recurring services for existing customers and acquire new customers in need of secure, high-performance outdoor Wi-Fi.

The opportunity for MSPs in this space is growing rapidly, with some estimates projecting that the global managed Wi-Fi solutions market will double to US$6.11 billion by 2022, from US$3.07 billion in 2017. When WatchGuard’s APs are managed with WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud, midmarket organisations and the MSPs that support them can extend their ability to build Trusted Wireless Environments into MDU settings and harsh outdoor deployment conditions. At the same time, this centralised Wi-Fi management interface enables users with intelligent network health, visibility and troubleshooting capabilities, powerful location-based analytics, guest engagement tools and more.

Download the Miercom Report: Protecting New and Existing AP Installations from Wi-Fi Hacking

WatchGuard’s AP225W and AP327X are available for purchase today. For more information on these new products and WatchGuard’s complete Secure Wi-Fi portfolio, click here. Download the full Miercom report here.

To join the Trusted Wireless Environment movement and advocate for a global security standard for Wi-Fi, click here.