How to configure Wi-Fi settings on managed devices?
Description
A Wi-Fi network connection is the most basic requirement in mobile devices for accessing corporate mobile devices. While users can manually connect to any Wi-Fi there are a few points that an IT admin must consider:
- If the user knows the credentials, the Wi-Fi password can be shared with unauthorised users
- Users may connect to public Wi-Fi, which greatly increases the chances of a data breach
- Some employees might not be technically adept to configure an enterprise grade Wi-Fi connection
- Some organizations want their corporate devices to be connected only to specified Wi-Fi networks
- Users might access unauthorised content by connected to a unsecured Wi-Fi connection
To address the above mentioned concerns, mobile device management (MDM) solutions such as Mobile Device Manager Plus allow admins to modify Wi-Fi settings and configurations on devices, automatically connect devices to specified Wi-Fi networks, prevent users from connecting to unauthorized Wi-Fi networks, and even prevent them from turning Wi-Fi off.
This document provides steps for:
Steps
Follow the steps given below to configure the Wi-Fi settings on devices.
- On the MDM console, navigate to Device Mgmt -> Profiles and create a new profile. Admins can choose between iOS, Android, Windows or Chrome OS to create a Wi-Fi profile
- From the left tab, select Wi-Fi from the list of supported policies
- Specify the following details to configure the Wi-Fi settings
- Provide the Wi-Fi SSID to which you want the device to connect to.
- Enable Connect to this Wi-Fi automatically to ensure the device connects to the specified Wi-Fi without any user intervention, when in it's vicinity.
- Specify whether the configured Wi-Fi is detectable or is a hidden network
- Select the corresponding Security type and enter the password or other required details to ensure the device doesn't prompt the user for the details while connecting the Wi-Fi
- You can also configure a Proxy for the Wi-Fi settings to be configured
- Once all the required details are entered, Save and Publish the profile
- It is recommended to test the profile by associating it with a single device before applying it to the Groups in your production environment
Prevent devices from connecting to unauthorised Wi-Fi networks
Follow the steps given below to prevent users from connecting devices to unauthorised Wi-Fi settings
- On the MDM console, navigate to Device Mgmt -> Profiles and create a new profile. Admins can choose between iOS, Android, Windows to create a profile.
- Select Restrictions to create a policy for restricting users from connecting to an unauthorised Wi-Fi. Navigate based on the required OS.
- iOS devices: Navigate to Network and Roaming and enable Connect to Wi-Fi only if distributed via MDM.
- Android devices: Navigate to Network and Roaming and enable Connect to Wi-Fi only if distributed via MDM.
- Windows devices: Navigate to Network and enable Allow Wi-Fi configurations.
- Save and Publish the profile.
- It is recommended to test the profile by associating it with a single device before applying it to the Groups in your production environment
Note: No need to specify separately if the network is a hidden network. Adding details of the hidden network to the Wi-Fi profile and associating the profile with a device will automatically get the device connected to the network when it is in range.
Recommendation
- While enabling the settings to prevent users from connecting to unauthorised Wi-Fi, ensure a Wi-Fi settings profile is successfully applied on the device. This is because once the device is restricted from connecting to other Wi-Fi networks, the device will automatically be disconnected from the existing Wi-Fi if it's not distributed using MDM. This will result in the device being unmanaged.
- Admins can configure user specific Wi-Fi settings as well in case of Chrome devices. This ensures the device connects to the specified Wi-Fi when the user logs into the device.
Free Edition