WatchGuard Technologies highlighted the continued expansion of its Secure Wi-Fi portfolio with the recent release of two new access points (APs); the AP225W and the AP327X. These new APs offer market-leading Wi-Fi performance and scalability, and the ability to extend Trusted Wireless Environments into multi-dwelling unit (MDU) deployments and harsh outdoor environments.

According to a new report from independent product test center, Miercom, no other brand of wireless AP can deliver a Trusted Wireless Environment that automatically detects and prevents all six known Wi-Fi threat categories. The report also found that WatchGuard APs can serve as a WIPS overlay for wireless networks made up of competing solutions that are susceptible to these Wi-Fi attacks.

"As organizations of all sizes increasingly rely on wireless connectivity for day-to-day operations, secure Wi-Fi is a modern business imperative. That's why WatchGuard is committed to developing Wi-Fi solutions that are simple, powerful, and capable of delivering Trusted Wireless Environments. These new APs are the latest example of our efforts to expand the types of organizations and environments we're able to protect," said Brendan Patterson, vice president of product management at WatchGuard. "As we continue to see many leading vendors underprioritize wireless security, we urge every organization and IT solution provider to carefully assess their current Wi-Fi systems to determine if they can automatically mitigate today's most prevalent Wi-Fi threats."

Flexible and Secure: The New WatchGuard AP225W

Designed to provide fast and secure Wi-Fi connectivity to organizations with high volumes of users siloed within a single location, WatchGuard's new wall plate AP225W is perfect for MDU environments such as dorm rooms, shared office spaces, smart apartments and condos, assisted living facilities, military housing units, and hotels. This AP comes equipped with dual-concurrent 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz band radios, and supports data rates up to 867 GHz and 400 Mbps respectively, delivering broad, fast, and reliable Wi-Fi coverage. For schools and businesses during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, this type of secure, fast Wi-Fi access will be critical to support remote learning and operations, and social distancing. Administrators can also connect up to three network devices to the AP using one 802.3af PoE output port (while simultaneously using its three Ethernet ports) to dramatically reduce cabling and switching costs.

In addition to its enterprise-grade performance, the AP225W offers simple cloud-based management capabilities and WatchGuard's patented Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) technology to block Wi-Fi attacks. For managed service providers (MSPs), the product's flexibility and security features offer a compelling way to differentiate from the competition, secure new customers in MDU markets and establish new revenue streams.

Meeting Outdoor Connectivity Demands: The New WatchGuard AP327X

Today more than ever, people expect ubiquitous Wi-Fi access. In fact, the global outdoor Wi-Fi market is projected to reach $63.25 billion by the end of 2023 (up from $28.51 billion in 2017). WatchGuard's new AP327X is designed to deliver fast, secure Wi-Fi connectivity in environments with challenging outdoor dynamics such as warehouses, manufacturing yards, malls, public and municipal Wi-Fi zones, campsites and more. This new model features an IP67-rated enclosure and comes equipped with four N-Type connectors that support a variety of external antennas, which provide the flexible, omni-directional antenna pattern coverage capabilities often required in harsher outdoor environments.

Enabled with cloud-based management and WatchGuard's industry-leading WIPS, MSPs can leverage the new AP327X's capabilities to both establish new recurring services for existing customers, and acquire new customers in need of secure, high-performance outdoor Wi-Fi.

The opportunity for MSPs in this space is growing rapidly, with some estimates projecting that the global managed Wi-Fi solutions market will double to $6.11 billion by 2022, from $3.07 billion in 2017. When WatchGuard's APs are managed with WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud, midmarket organizations and the MSPs that support them can extend their ability to build Trusted Wireless Environments into MDU settings and harsh outdoor deployment conditions. At the same time, this centralized Wi-Fi management interface enables users with intelligent network health, visibility and troubleshooting capabilities, powerful location-based analytics, guest engagement tools and more.

Miercom's new study evaluated leading APs from top Wi-Fi vendors, and found that WatchGuard's solution is the only one in the market capable of automatically detecting and preventing the six known wireless security threat categories. It also determined that when deployed as a dedicated WIPS security sensor within Wi-Fi networks comprised of competing APs, a single WatchGuard AP can automatically mitigate all wireless threats that the existing system would otherwise be unable to stop. This means that deploying just one WatchGuard AP can allow organizations to build Trusted Wireless Environments without going through the costly and time-consuming process of ripping and replacing existing infrastructure 

"WatchGuard's Wi-Fi security solutions are the most powerful and easy-to-use on the market," said Alberto Oliveira, head of security services at TrueSec. "The APs are incredibly simple to configure, deploy and monitor, and offer industry-leading wireless security. Their WIPS capabilities enable customers with Trusted Wireless Environments, while the performance and management features deliver high-quality Wi-Fi access. Offering this type of all-in-one secure Wi-Fi system is a major competitive differentiator for our business, and our customers love it." 

WatchGuard's AP225W and AP327X are available for purchase today. Get more information on these new products and WatchGuard's complete Secure Wi-Fi portfolio. Download the full Miercom report.