PacketFence

PacketFence

PacketFence is an open source network access control (NAC) system that provides registration, isolation, and remediation services for wired and wireless networks. It helps secure networks by enforcing access policies and isolating unauthorized devices.
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access-control policy-enforcement network-security

PacketFence: Open Source Network Access Control

PacketFence is an open source network access control (NAC) system that provides registration, isolation, and remediation services for wired and wireless networks.

What is PacketFence?

PacketFence is an open source network access control (NAC) solution developed by Inverse Inc. It provides registration, isolation, and remediation services for both wired and wireless networks to help secure access and enforce policies.

Some key features of PacketFence include:

  • Flexible and granular access control policies based on VLAN, Active Directory, OAuth, LDAP, etc.
  • Automated registration and isolation of unknown devices
  • Remediation through a captive portal to bring devices into compliance
  • Integration with wireless controllers like Cisco, Aruba, Ruckus, etc.
  • Monitoring, reporting and alerting capabilities
  • High availability through clustering and redundancy
  • Supports complex network topologies with VLANs, subnets, switches and routers
  • RESTful API for integration and automation

PacketFence can isolate non-compliant or compromised devices quickly without disrupting network connectivity for other users. It is commonly used in corporate, government, education and healthcare networks to secure both company-owned and BYOD devices accessing the network infrastructure.

PacketFence Features

Features

  1. User registration and onboarding
  2. Device profiling and fingerprinting
  3. Policy enforcement and access control
  4. Guest management
  5. BYOD support
  6. Remediation and quarantine
  7. Reporting and analytics

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Open source and free

Supports wide range of network hardware

Granular access control policies

Scalable for large networks

Active community support

Cons

Complex installation and configuration

Limited support options

Less intuitive web UI

Lacks cloud management capabilities


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