The WatchGuard AP325 is an 802.11ac access point perfect for the cost-conscious. It’s ideal for medium-density environments like K-12 schools and small and midsize businesses. It will also suit offices, small retail and meeting rooms, restaurants, and healthcare offices.
This access point targets SMBs that want affordable Wave 2 performance, tight security and remote management. It can be used as a standalone AP and is managed via WatchGuard’s Firebox security appliances or its Wi-Fi Cloud service.
A really cool feature is WatchGuard’s WIPS (wireless intrusion prevention system) radio. The AP325 has six internal aerials. Two of these detect unauthorized wireless APs physically connected to your network and disable them. That’a pretty cool!
The AP325’s first Gigabit port supports PoE+. It is used for the main LAN connection and management access. The the second can be used to extend the wired network or for link aggregation. You’ll want to avoid using a low-power 802.3af PoE source.
A little about licensing
You can choose the management method when you purchase the AP325. It’ll have the Basic Wi-Fi license enabling Firebox management. WIPS is enabled with cloud management. A Secure Wi-Fi license gives you this plus the Go mobile web app and network monitoring tools. The Total Wi-Fi subscription adds location-based usage analysis. It also gives you the Engage app for gathering guest user demographics.
After initial setup (which is easy), the ‘Manage’ portal presents a graphical overview of everything. That means wireless networks, clients, rogue APs and client traffic. And you can add and customize additional dashboards, each with their own widgets.
Levels of control are remarkable. You’ll have captive portals, walled gardens, and traffic shaping. In addition, you’ll have quality of service for voice and video traffic. Plus, there’s rules-based traffic and application firewalls. Black and white MAC address lists can be applied, as can an authorization page for onboarding BYOD devices.
The Discover portal provides a wealth of information about clients, login times and issues. The application visibility setting in your SSID profiles allows the WatchGuard AP325 to display traffic details on over 1,400 apps to the Discover dashboard in live graphs.
The Engage portal eliminates the need for a separate user demographics analysis solution. It works with authentication plug-ins for social media apps including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It then gathers information on guest users so you can create targeted marketing campaigns.
In summary
WatchGuard’s AP325 has it all for SMB wireless networks. It’s easy to set up, provides great features and its extremely secure. The cloud management portal very, very good. We’d love to tell you more about the WatchGuard AP325. So, why not give us a call at 877-449-0458, or reach out at [email protected]? Thanks for reading!
WatchGuard AP325 highlights
| Max data rate (5 GHz / 2.4 GHz) 867Mbps / 300 Mbps | |
| 2×2:2 MU-MIMO Wave 2 | |
| 3rd WIPS radio for excellent security | |
| Supports PoE+ |