FreeRADIUS is considered by some to be the most popular RADIUS implementation. The open-source, on-prem RADIUS instance can be used by IT organizations to leverage secure WiFi networking and authenticate services for network infrastructure. Managed service providers (MSPs) act as hosted IT organizations for multiple client companies. A FreeRADIUS for MSPs option would be wonderful if it didn’t require any equipment on-prem and could be managed remotely . The good news is that there is an MSP-focused FreeRADIUS option delivered from the cloud. Such a cloud RADIUS option could be very interesting for MSPs and their clients when considering how to step up network security.
Drawbacks of FreeRADIUSAs the IT landscape has shifted to wireless internet access, MSPs and their clients have been searching for effective ways to increase their network security. One of the best ways to make that happen is to require a unique set of credentials through RADIUS to login to the WiFi network instead of just a group SSID and passphrase. In order to accomplish this, you would generally need a RADIUS server on-prem (usually FreeRADIUS). An IT admin (MSP or otherwise) would then need to integrate that FreeRADIUS instance with the directory service, wireless access points, and laptops/desktops. All of this takes a great deal of time and work on-prem, which, for MSPs, generally isn’t a best practice.
An ideal FreeRADIUS for MSPs would tout a couple of key features. First, it would be serverless and completely leverageable from the cloud, alleviating the need for managing servers on-prem. For an MSP, eliminating days worth of truck rolls obviously saves time, but also money. Second, this cloud-based FreeRADIUS would need to be configurable across multiple client organizations, ideally from one pane of glass. By doing so, MSPs could reduce the friction of managing their differing customers’ wireless needs, as well as improve their overall scalability. Thankfully, such a solution actually exists on the market today.
RADIUS-as-a-Service: FreeRADIUS for MSPs
By leveraging a cloud-based FreeRADIUS option called RADIUS-as-a-Service from JumpCloud , MSPs can level up their clients’ WiFi security without hardware or software on-prem. This means (Read more...)
