It seems like your browser didn't download the required fonts. Please revise your security settings and try again.
Barracuda Campus Barracuda Campus
Barracuda NextGen Firewall X
Overview Documentation Materials

This Product is End-of-Life and End-Of-Support

End-Of-Life and End-Of-Support on December 1st, 2020: All Barracuda Firewall X-Series sales will cease; neither new sales nor any renewals will be available. If you currently hold a maintenance and support contract, you will continue to receive our award-winning support and services until your contract expires. Please see the End-Of-Life definition as described in the End of Support and End of Life Information.

How to Configure Wi-Fi

  • Last updated on

Barracuda NextGen Firewall X101 and X201 are equipped with a Wi-Fi network module supporting IEEE 802.11 b/g/n with a maximum transmission rate of 54 Mbps and 108 Mbps in SuperG mode for compatible client devices. Using WPA and WPA2 with a RADIUS authentication server, you can encrypt wireless networks. The Barracuda NextGen Firewall X-Series can serve up to three independent Wi-Fi networks with different SSIDs. You can configure each Wi-Fi network with a landing page serving either a confirmation message or a ticketing system for guest network access.

Step 1. Configure the Wi-Fi interface

To configure basic network settings for the Wi-Fi module:

  1. Go to the NETWORK > IP Configuration page.
  2. In the Static Interface Configuration section, edit one of the available Wi-Fi interfaces (ath0, ath2, ath3) if you want to change the IP address configuration.
  3. Click Save.

Step 2. Configure the Wi-Fi settings

When the static Wi-Fi network interface is available, Wi-Fi can be activated. The SSID, wireless security, and authentication can also be adjusted.

  1. Go to the NETWORK > IP Configuration page.
  2. In the Wi-Fi Link Configuration section, select the Activate Wi-Fi check box to enable Wi-Fi.
  3. From the Location list, select the country that your firewall is located in.
  4. Click Save Changes.
Configure radio settings

To configure the radio channel and transmission rate:

  1. Click Configure Radio and edit the radio settings.
    • For more transmission power and a bigger range of radio reception, select a higher mW value from the Power list.
    • For higher data throughput, select a higher Mbps value from the Bitrate list.
    • To bond two channels for a transmission rate of up to 108 Mbps, set SuperG to Yes. When you enable this setting, verify that all clients connecting to this access point support SuperG mode.
  2. Click Save Changes.
  3. At the top of the page, click the warning message to execute the new network configuration.
  4. Log into the firewall again.
Configure a Wi-Fi access point

To edit a Wi-Fi access point:

  1. Click Edit for the access point you want to enable (Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi2, Wi-Fi3).
  2. In the SSID field, enter the Service Set IDentifier (SSID). This name is displayed to Wi-Fi clients that search for available Wi-Fi signals.
  3. From the Security Level list, select one of the following options:
    • High – WPA2 (Recommended).
    • Medium – WPA.
    • None – No encryption.
  4. From the Authentication list, select one of the following options:
    • WPA-PSK – Use this option when key management should be done locally on the firewall. Then define a preshared key.
    • WPA-RADIUS/EAP – Use this option when key management is done by a RADIUS server. Then enter the RADIUS server information into the RADIUS Configuration section.
  5. To forward clients to a landing page that displays a Confirmation Message or serves a Ticketing system, enable the feature. To give clients direct access to the Wi-Fi network, select None.
  6. Click Save.

Step 3. Enable the DHCP server

To assign IP addresses to clients that are connected to the Wi-Fi network, enable the DHCP server of the firewall. 

  1. Go to the NETWORK > DHCP Server page. Clients with an active lease are listed in the Active Leases section.
  2. In the DHCP Server section, set Enable DHCP Server to Yes.
  3. If you change the network configuration of the default Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi2 interfaces, modify the available subnets or create a new one.
  4. Click Save Changes.

Step 4. Configure the access rule for Wi-Fi

There is a predefined access rule named WIFI-2-INTERNET that only applies to the first Wi-Fi network (ath0). To allow other networks, you can either edit a copy of the rule for the other networks or edit the rule directly to include all subnets.

  1. Go to the FIREWALL > Firewall Rules page.
  2. To edit a copy of the WIFI-2-INTERNET rule:
    1. Copy the WIFI-2-INTERNET rule. The rule copy is created at the bottom of the rule set.
    2. Edit the WIFI-2-INTERNET-COPY rule.
    3. Click the Advanced tab and change Interface Group to Wi-Fi2 or Wi-Fi3.
  3. To directly edit the the WIFI-2-INTERNET rule to include all subnets:
    1. Edit the WIFI-2-INTERNET rule.
    2. Click the Advanced tab and select Matching from the Interface Group list.
    3. Click the General tab and change Source to specify the Wi-Fi subnets.
  4. At the top of the rule editor window, click Save.

Step 5. Verify the order of the access rules

Because rules are processed from top to bottom in the rule set, arrange your rules in the correct order. Also verify that your rules are placed above the BLOCKALL rule; otherwise, the rules are blocked.

After adjusting the order of rules in the rule set, click Save Changes.