Why is 802.1x only available for enterprise

[daneoni]

Im a student at university and my school uses 802.1x for Wi-Fi- authentication and i was surprised the phone didn't have...even more so that it is available for enterprise customers but not general consumers.

Obviously its not hard to implement so why don't Apple just add it to Wi-Fi section?

 

[joeb]

I'm almost certain that all the features of the phone are available to the general consumer. I'm not sure how the phone would know whether you are an enterprise customer or just a regular person connecting to a work/school network. There's only one model and only one OS available so it must be there, just gotta figure out how to use it.

Try this http://www.personal.psu.edu/dmt155/iphonecfg/ website for help. It explains how to get the Apple config utility to setup your iphone for a business network. The example looks like a university network with WIFI.

 

[mkrishnan]

802.1x is an "enterprise" technology in the sense of being opposed to "consumer" technologies. In that use of the term, you are an enterprise user -- your university is the enterprise in question (you have an 802.1x system at your university... you don't run one on your home router).

The functionality works on all iPhones -- you don't need any special kind of account to use it, AFAIK.

Here's an example of BU's guide to setting up their 802.1x network on the iPhone. You should be able to follow it and insert the appropriate information for your school instead of BU's information.

http://www.bu.edu/pcsc/wireless/8021x/iphone.html

P.S. It's 802.1x ... not 802.11x.

 

[VenusianSky]

If the university uses RADIUS, you should get promted for credentials when you connect. If it uses certificate-based, you will need to obtain a client certificate. I just tried to connect to my company's wifi that requires authentication, and it does prompt me for credentials. Unfortunately, the policy only allows domain computers to connect to that network, and there is no way to join my iPhone to the Windows domain.

 

[daneoni]

802.1x is an "enterprise" technology in the sense of being opposed to "consumer" technologies. In that use of the term, you are an enterprise user -- your university is the enterprise in question (you have an 802.1x system at your university... you don't run one on your home router).

The functionality works on all iPhones -- you don't need any special kind of account to use it, AFAIK.

Here's an example of BU's guide to setting up their 802.1x network on the iPhone. You should be able to follow it and insert the appropriate information for your school instead of BU's information.

http://www.bu.edu/pcsc/wireless/8021x/iphone.html

If the university uses RADIUS, you should get promted for credentials when you connect....

Oh so since 2.0 onwards the Phone automatically detects what type of network it is i.e. once i'm in range of my school's SSID the phone will know its a 802.1x hotspot and act accordingly?

P.S. It's 802.1x ... not 802.11x.

Thanks for correcting me

 

[VenusianSky]

Oh so since 2.0 onwards the Phone automatically detects what type of network it is i.e. once i'm in range of my school's SSID the phone will know its a 802.1x hotspot and act accordingly?

You got it!

 

[daneoni]

You got it!

Sweet

 

[mkrishnan]

Yep, you got it. The original iPhone firmware didn't support it at the perfectly wrong time, when universities started using 802.1x en masse. But it is there now. Seems to be a relatively solid implementation.