Here's What I Want NOW From My Wireless Management System

When it comes to the management and security of wireless networks, I want a lot of things. I want new things, and I want legacy things that aren't going away to get better. I want slick, I want fast and I want effective. I want powerful, feature-rich, and a say in what features are worth devoting UI resources to. I want it all, baby- and here's my latest rant on the topic. You're going to love this.

Before I drop the bomb, lets set the stage.

I had the privilege of hanging out with the fellows from 7signal at the recent Wireless Field Day 5 event, and seeing how they do WLAN RF health characterization,  as well as getting a peek at what AirTight is up to. Being a long-time Cisco wireless customer, my mushy brain cant help but bring everything back to my vendor for comparison; but more on this in just a bit.

In my spare time, I've been having more fun than a person should be allowed to with the addicting Wi-Fi Pineapple (along with some tricks from the much-revered BackTrack Linux.) And at work, we're gearing up for thousands of students to flood back into the dorms, which means Rogue Hunting Season is neigh. Put all this together and feed it into the "It's Easy For Me To Demand Things From Other People That I Can't Do" engine, and out pops the following wireless support and security gem:


Wouldn't it be cool if...

• You could take one of your in-service APs and turn it into a virtual client that associates with other APs? (stay with me, I know you've heard this part before)


• Synthetic testing with said virtual client was possible: do my DHCP and RADIUS servers work? Can I reach the Internet? Can I reach other locations, from each of my SSIDs?


• The virtual client AP could report on nearby rogue networks, after I set a min threshold value, (getting closer to the money shot) and tell- Is the SSID open or protected?


• My virtual client could associate to the open SSIDs, and report back what the public IP is of the rogue?  (I could find it then through MAC or ARP tables if on my own network- doesn't need to be automated)


• Here's the LAGNIAPPE, baby- If the rogue SSID was encrypted, I'd like my virtual client to execute Aircrack-NG, Reaver, Fern, or whatever. Somehow, the power of my management system harnessed to this virtual client/pen testing-mode AP would give me a big-assed, infinite dictionary from hell and lots of power to crack. Then I could go back to the "find the public IP" step, which to me is the ultimate and definitive "game over" versus a lot of wireside detection systems that are so-so with their success rates.

I know there are lots of ways to do "wireless support", but I am enamored with the force-multiplying capabilities of a well-constructed virtual client mode for installed APs (as I imagine them working). I've been beating the drum for Cisco to consider basic virtual client functionality for years, to no avail.

But now I want even more- I want a "virtual client AP meets BackTrack Linux, and they have offspring" mode.

I'm not asking for too much, am I?

Gimme A Wireless Virtual Client Function, Already!

I'll start this post with two admissions:

1. Of late, I've been interested in the capabilities of 7Signal.

2. Long before 7Signal came to the WLAN space, I've been beating the drum for my WLAN vendor (and all vendors) to deliver what I call virtual client functionality. 

On 7SIgnal, I'm struggling with sticker shock and trying to figure out where it's very cool capabilities stop and where they overlap with tools like Cisco's CleanAir (which isn't cheap either). I am hearing good things about 7Signal from current customers.

About that virtual client thing, it is something 7Signal can do (along with a slew of other cool  things). But by now, I also think this is one of those capabilities that should be built into enterprise WLAN systems. (If I'm not mistaken, Motorola comes closest to having something like this.)

Quick note to vendors- you give us one innovation after another that you think would benefit your clients. Thank you. But how about this one that is long overdue? Your customers that actually run the WLANs of the world would LOVE you for it.

Here are two versions of what I'm looking for:

Simple version:

• I can do all of this through my wireless management system
• I can schedule the function to run at regular intervals and report on it
• I choose one of my installed APs to put into "Virtual Client Mode"
• Through the wire, I can have my Virtual Client connect to each of my SSIDs and exercise the likes of RADIUS, Credential Stores, DHCP/DNS, L2 and L3 paths via ping, traceroute, etc, rate limiting, throughput tests, whatever
• All of this is coordinated in a way that doesn't disrupt the existing client environment

Advanced Version:

• All of the above, PLUS
• I can manually choose any AP within a given range
• I can tell the virtual client to test itself against every AP it can hear within a certain range

You probably get the gist. The payoff- I can "be" in buildings or at sites that I don't have to travel to. The Virtual Client would be a force multiplier, and in many situations would bring far more value than seeing pages upon pages of rogues and interfering signals from neighboring WLANs that I couldn't react to if I wanted (hallmark of many current systems).

I can't believe that I'm about to say this- I get tired of the sometime extreme feature licensing that has come to be all too common in the WLAN industry. But I'd actually pay (a fair price) for GOOD virtual client functionality. 

Am I asking for too much? Are there WLAN vendors beyond 7Signal that are natively doing this that I don't know of?