VAR Provides Law Firm With Secure Wireless Access
When law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP relocated to 12 floors of a Manhattan building, it wanted to seize the opportunity to provide wireless network access to clients, prospects, and its own workforce. The law firm selected Cisco premier-certified partner eTribeca LLC, a VAR with more than 10 years of Wi-Fi experience and a Cisco specialization in wireless.
eTribeca designed a secure wireless solution based on Cisco Aironet 1200 Series products, with the Wireless LAN Solution Engine (WLSE) for management, AirMagnet Enterprise for IDS (intrusion detection system) monitoring, and Wireless LAN Services Module (WLSM) for seamless roaming. The Cisco wireless network would reduce or eliminate the need to pull resources away from IT for connectivity needs.
Build WLANs With The Future In Mind
While many firms are deploying wireless solutions in satellite offices and conference rooms, eTribeca CTO and COO Gary Berzack says deploying it in a New York City office space, securely on 12 floors, was a challenge. The law firm’s design needs were one of the biggest challenges. “We evaluated six antenna designs before finding the one that was aesthetically pleasing to the customer and offered reliable performance,” says Berzack. “In fact, the antenna we selected is the size of a postage stamp and can be painted with a nonmetallic paint without compromising RF [radio frequency] performance.”
According to Berzack, the implementation took just two weeks, and following the implementation, eTribeca provided a detailed user guide enabling the Kramer Levin IT department to show people how to access the network. For wireless security, eTribeca used the 802.1x security specification. The VAR designed a secure network for contracts and other private documents and a more open network for law firm visitors to surf the Web or process e-mail.
The overall implementation, which included a wireless site survey (using AirMagnet’s analyzer tool), WLAN design consultation, hardware, installation, and a maintenance contract, cost more than $200,000. “Since this was a fresh install, we built the network to enable dual-mode phone use,” says Berzack. “Even though the customer wasn’t looking for this feature initially, we had the foresight to build the WLAN and position the APs with future voice applications in mind.” l