Sophos Wireless - Wi-Fi management in Central is now free
In October 2021, Sophos decided that it would no longer charge for Wi-Fi management in the Central console. Until then, you had to pay an annual license fee in Central to manage a Sophos Access Point (per device). This meant the solution was not particularly attractive for many of our customers, as managing Access Points via an XG or XGS firewall has always been free of charge. Use Sophos Central for free!
Create a free Sophos Central account now and start managing your Sophos Access Points. Create account now
When Sophos introduced the new XGS series in April 2021, it announced that the new firewalls would only support management of the APX series. As a result, paid management of AP series Access Points via Central Wireless suddenly became the only option if you wanted to switch to the new XGS series. We suspect that this was a showstopper for some customers and prevented them from moving to the new XGS firewalls.
To remove this obstacle, Sophos evidently felt compelled to stop charging fees for Central Wi-Fi management. This has naturally made the solution more attractive, and it will probably become the most commonly used option among Sophos customers for managing Access Points in a central console.
In this blog post, we briefly summarise what you can expect from Central Wireless and which features are available.
Centralised Wi-Fi management
With Sophos Central Wireless, you can configure your Sophos Access Points very easily via your Central account. Connect an Access Point to the internet and register it by entering its serial number in your Sophos Central account. You can then start the configuration and set up a secure wireless network. As soon as the Access Point is up and running, you can see the status of your Wi-Fi and all connected clients.
If you like, you can also set up a separate guest network with a daily password for visitors or external staff.
Simple configuration
Once you have registered one or more Sophos Access Points in Sophos Central Wireless, you still need to configure a new network. However, this is also done with just a few clicks in Sophos Central Wireless. You simply create a new SSID, give your network a name, choose a secure encryption method (WPA / WPA2 / WEP), define an encryption algorithm (AES, TKIP/AES) and select the required frequency band (2.4 and / or 5 GHz). Of course, you also need to set a strong password at the end. This configuration then only needs to be assigned to an Access Point.
If you do not want your Wi-Fi to be available all the time, you can restrict its availability to specific times.
Manage locations
Keeping track of multiple Access Points quickly becomes a challenge. With Sophos Central Wireless, you never reach your limits when it comes to maintaining an overview of your network. Simply store a location description for each Access Point. If there are several branch offices, you can even store the address to see the distribution on Google Maps.
If you are not sure whether two Access Points on your floor are sufficient, just upload a floor plan and simulate the coverage of your devices.
Create guest networks
Sophos Central Wireless enables you to create guest networks. This gives you a separate, isolated area for visitors or devices that you do not want in your corporate network. For authentication, you can choose between daily, weekly or monthly passwords that are generated according to a fixed schedule. As soon as a new password is generated, you can have your administrators or selected users notified by email.
Voucher codes offer another authentication option. Here, various codes are generated that can either be used without restriction or have a defined validity period.
Extend coverage
With Sophos Access Points and Sophos Wireless, it is possible to connect APs to each other without a network connection. The so-called mesh mode allows you to extend Wi-Fi coverage in a very straightforward way. The SSID is passed on to every Access Point. The advantage is that the wireless network can also be extended without cabling. The Access Point receives the network from the nearest Access Point and forwards it to a smartphone, tablet, laptop or other device.
Further information
Datasheets
Videos
- Getting Started with Sophos Wireless
- Sophos Wireless - From Unboxed to Connected in Two Minutes
- Sophos Wireless - How to Register an Access Point
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