Configuring Networks

A wireless network is a telecommunications network that uses radio signals to connect devices, such as laptops and tablets, to the Internet. Wireless networks provide network connectivity without the use of cables, allowing users to access network resources from anywhere within the network coverage area.

There are two types of Aruba OfficeConnect Wi-Fi Portal networks:

Main network

Guest network

To view the Networks page, click Networks on the Aruba OfficeConnect Wi-Fi Portal home page.

A main network is the primary network to which admin users and employees connect in order to access the Internet and internal network resources. All network management and monitoring tools can only be accessed from the main network.

A guest network is a secondary network that provides Internet access to visiting clients without compromising internal network resources and security. The SSID and password of guest networks are different from the SSID and password of the main network. This prevents unknown clients from accessing internal information that is only available on the main network.

An active network is a running network that provides Internet access to users. An inactive network is a network that has been disabled. The Aruba OfficeConnect Wi-Fi Portal only displays the networks that are currently active. Networks that are currently inactive are not displayed.

As the main network must always be available for network management, only the guest network can be set to Inactive. See Configuring a Guest Network for more information on setting the guest network to Active or Inactive.