The first solution we ll examine is freeware. Free is always a good thing, especially in the IT industry! Reef Edge (www.reefedge.com) produces several commercial products for use in securing wireless networks, including Connect Manager. Dolphin is a somewhat scaled-down version of Connect Manager that still provides the same basic features, but is free. If you need to add an unlimited number of users, or add new user groups, you should investigate Connect Manager. The Dolphin FAQ (http://techzone.reefedge.com/dolphin/_index/faq.page) provides more information on the limitations of Dolphin in comparison to Connect Manager.

Dolphin runs a hardened version of Linux and, once installed, acts almost the same as any other network appliance. The chief difference is that console and Telnet logins are not supported; all access is via the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) secured Web interface. An aging piece of Intel 586 hardware can be quickly and easily transformed into a secure wireless gateway, providing access control from the wireless network to the wired network, which we demonstrate in this chapter. Dolphin is a noncommercial product and not to be used in large implementations, but it does provide an ideal (and affordable) solution for Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) applications and serves as an excellent test bed for administrators who want to get their feet wet with wireless without opening their networks to security breaches. If you find that Dolphin is to your liking, you might want to consider contacting Reef Edge to purchase Connect Manager...