BN303 Wireless Networks and Security: Wireless Network Design

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of wireless network design and security for medium-sized organizations. It begins by outlining the aims and objectives for establishing the network, followed by a detailed requirements analysis, including discussions on IEEE 802.1X authentication and WPA/WPA2 encryption protocols. The report then presents a network design diagram and justifies the design choices, emphasizing the importance of security measures. An evaluation of the implemented network, including the use of PoE switches and RADIUS servers, is provided, leading to concluding remarks that summarize the key findings and underscore the report's success in addressing the specified requirements. The report effectively explores various methods of connectivity and security procedures to prevent cyber security attacks.

Running head: WIRELESS NETWORK DESIGN
Wireless Network Design
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Summary
The purpose of this report is to analyse networking requirements of medium sized organizations and
how best use of wireless network connectivity can be made while also securing the same from the
most common and harmful cyber security threats. First the report, talks about the aims and
objectives for setting up the network of the organization. Following this, the report presents
thorough analysis of the network and talks about the different protocols necessary for securing the
network. Next the network design is presented following which justification for the design is given
where the various methods of connectivity and the different security procedures for preventing
cyber security attacks have been explained. Thereafter, the report evaluates the implementation of
the organizations network and ends with observations in concluding notes.

2WIRELESS NETWORK DESIGN
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Aims and Objectives..............................................................................................................................3
Requirements Analysis..........................................................................................................................3
IEEE 802.1X..........................................................................................................................4
Authentication........................................................................................................................4
WPA...................................................................................................................................4
WPA2.................................................................................................................................4
Network Design.....................................................................................................................................4
Justification............................................................................................................................................4
Evaluation..............................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................4
References.............................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
This report aims to analyse the requirements of the network requirements of medium sized
organizations and describe the ideal way wireless network connectivity can be implemented while
also securing the same from the most common and harmful cyber security threats. The report begins
by talking about the aims and objectives for setting up the network of the organization. Following
this, the report presents thorough analysis of the network and talks about the different protocols
necessary for securing the network. Next the network design is presented following which
justification for the design is given where the various methods of connectivity and the different
security procedures for preventing cyber security attacks have been explained. Thereafter, the
report evaluates the implementation of the organizations network and ends with observations in
concluding notes.
Aims and Objectives
This report discusses the scenario of establishing network connectivity in and around the
campuses as well as the classrooms, libraries, cafeteria and the like using both wired and wireless
network connections.
Performance of wireless networks depend on the signals getting transmitted and hence is
not always as steady and fixed as wired network connections. In order to alleviate this problem,
multiple wireless access points need to be installed in the organization building as also across
different parts of the campus [5].
Setting up network infrastructure in campuses is very different and more complicated than
establishing networks inside the building [1]. This is due to lack of availability of power points in
outside premises. Such problems can be mitigated by acquiring and installing PoE or Power over
Ethernet switches as these specialized switches can deliver power and Ethernet access to wireless
access points through the same ports and interfaces.

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Wireless access is often tapped by unwanted users and hijacked by cyber criminals like
hijackers. Other common information security attacks for wireless networks can be Man in the
Middle attacks also known as MITM attacks [10]. To prevent these kind of attacks the network
should be made inaccessible to outside users. The easiest way ensure this is very keeping user
authentication and verification measures in place. Radius server based authentication, use of 802.1X
network authentication protocol and WPA based security protocols and certificates.
Requirements Analysis
The network of the organization involves providing internet connectivity to individual
devices of the building as also in their campuses [9]. These devices can include workstations and
laptops. Wired connections are needed for connecting workstations directly with the switches of
respective floors.
Wireless network connectivity is required for the numerous laptops in use inside the
organization building as well as in campuses. For ensuring Wi-Fi services to laptops wireless access
points are required.
The switches of the network needs to be Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches so that they
can serve wireless access points places all across the campus.
For security, specialized hardware equipment is required. These are the Remote
Authentication Dial-In User Service or RADIUS servers [2]. These servers are used for authentication
and verification of users accessing the network.
Protocols used in setting up the network of the organization can be:
Assumptions
The network is secured through implementation of the following authentication and
encryption schemes. These are:
Authentication
802.1X refers to that IEEE standard protocol suite used for port based Network Access
Control or PNAC. This protocol is a member of the 802.1 IEEE family that governs various protocols
for networking. These protocols are responsible for ensuring authentication measures for devices
configured in local area networks or LAN and wireless local area networks or WLAN. The protocol
defines Extensive Authentication Protocol (EAP) over LAN, in short EAPOL.

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Encryption
Wi-Fi Protected Access refers to the security standard to secure devices connected to
wireless networks. The protocol is developed by Wi-Fi alliance for offering more
comprehensive user credential authentication and better encryption mechanism for Wired
Equivalent Privacy or WEP [8]. Wi-Fi Protected Access II or WPA2 is today the most widely
used encryption for wireless communications [6]. WPA2 ensures that unique keys of
encryption are provided to the clients connected to the configured network.
Network Design
Figure 1: Logical Network Diagram

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The above diagram shows the network design to be implemented. Here the network is
provided to the core switch of the organization via the authenticator. Authentication is ensured
separately by the Radius server. The core layer switch provides connections to access layers switches
of different floors. These are PoE switches and are also used to connect wireless access points that
are placed inside and outside the building.
Justification
The network diagram presented above shows how security is applied to the
organization’s network by adhering to the 802.1X IEEE set of protocols. In particular EAPOL
is used to implement the authentication process for the network [4]. This authentication
protocol is not too complex. Here, an EAP request packet is sent by the authenticator to
supplicants the moment active links are detected. The supplicant then sends EAP response
packet to the authenticator that afterwards gets transferred to the RADIUS server. The
Radius authentication server then returns challenge to authenticator similar to token
password system [3]. This is extracted by authenticator from IP and packaged as EAPOL
which is then sent to supplicant [7]. The supplicant responds to the challenge through the
authenticator and sends it to the Radius server. In response the Radius server terms the
message a success if proper identity is given by the supplicant.
The WPA2 encryption mechanism is configured in the wireless access points so that
every device connected to the access points are assigned unique encryption keys. These are
the passwords that verify that trusted devices are connected to the wireless network.
Evaluation
The network of the organization has been implemented by incorporation the network
equipment like routers, PoE switches, wireless access points, Radius server. The radius server and
the router ensure 802.1X based authentication for the overall network. The wireless access points

7WIRELESS NETWORK DESIGN
come with built in functionality for configuring WPA2 encryption for the various devices connected
to wireless network. The switches of the network are PoE switches for connecting access points
anywhere in campus.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the above report succeeds in carefully analysing the requirements of the
network requirements of medium sized organizations and describe the ideal way wireless network
connectivity can be implemented while also securing the same from the most common and harmful
cyber security threats. The report begins by talking about the aims and objectives for setting up the
network of the organization. Following this, the report presents thorough analysis of the network
and talks about the different protocols necessary for securing the network. Next the network design
is presented following which justification for the design is given where the various methods of
connectivity and the different security procedures for preventing cyber security attacks have been
explained. Thereafter the report ends after evaluating the implementation of the organizations
network.

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References
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Model Based on 802.1 x Protocol. In FSDM (pp. 407-413). , 2016,
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capability to data plane in software defined networking (SDN) architecture.‐ Security and
Communication Networks, 9(17), pp.4369-4377. , 2016.
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Communications Magazine, 54(8), pp.70-76. , 2016.
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Europe. , 2017.
[7] N. Hermaduanti, and I. Riadi, AUTOMATION FRAMEWORK FOR ROGUE ACCESS POINT
MITIGATION IN IEEE 802.1 X-BASED WLAN. Journal of Theoretical & Applied Information
Technology, 93(2). , 2016.
[8] P.A. Ochang, and P. Irving, Performance analysis of wireless network throughput and security
protocol integration. Int J Future Generation Commun Netw, 9(1), pp.71-78. , 2016.
[9] S. Zheng, H. Zhang, L. Jiang, and B. Li, February. brief analysis on “heyuantong” campus mobile
phone app design. In 2015 5th International Conference on Computer Sciences and Automation
Engineering (ICCSAE 2015). Atlantis Press. , 2016,
[10] Y. Ma, and H. Ning, October. Improvement of EAP Authentication Method Based on Radius
Server. In 2018 IEEE 18th International Conference on Communication Technology (ICCT) (pp. 1324-
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