Zoneinsite

Zoneinsite ( name TBD, .com domain acquired for one year).

Overview

In todays world network access is as desired as running water or electricity. Installation, configuration, control and maintenance for networks can be very complex, have security pitfalls and have massive limitations over what people are down and when. These issues effect homes, Small and Mid sized business while large businesses invest massive amounts of money to control network access.

Zoneinsite hopes to fill the home to mid-sized company market with a simple, secure and very flexible set of devices and tools that allow any authoritive user local or remote control of then many facets of networks and devices on the network. Most solutions today require software to be installed on network devices but this only works in specific PCs and Hand Held devices, all of which can be worked around by a motivated teenager or hack.

System Elements

Zoneinsite will become the arbiter of all network communications at one or many locations by becoming the LAN gateway router, replacing or being installed south of existing routers, accesspoints and servers. The system will then have visibility to all devices on the LAN as well as the ability to integrate with other devices the product supports.

• PHYSICAL element high level overview of the system's potential:
  • WAN gateway router
    • This system will connect to the internet connection at a site (Cable modem, FIOS, DSL, MIFI, so on).
    • This system will have one ethernet port devoted to connecting to the internet connection device
    • This system will have one or more LAN ethernet ports (variable based on the flavor of product the LAN required)
    • This system, or specific flavor of product can have a wifi access point built in
  • Network Switch
    • This system will have a network switch that can be ordered and installed with the system.
    • This switch will be configured and controlled by the WAN Gateway router.
  • Access points
    • This system will have Access points that work in conjunction with the WAN gateway router.
    • Many access points can be added to a network location, all controlled by the WAN gateway router.
    • These access points must be affordable, support multi SSID-to-Vlan, and should be POE
• VIRTUAL/Software based tool high level overview of the system's potential:
  • WAN Gateway router LOCAL web access/console
  • WAN Gateway router LOCAL mobile APP access/console
  • Cloud Based Local or Remote System access/console

System Installation and Integration

When this system is installed in a location, a user can simply buy one or many of the flavors the product is offered in. Once installed in the norther most location in the LAN (network edge to internet), it is imperative there are no other routers/NAT gateways in the LAN, which will limit the platforms ability to enforce.

Example A: Home user has a cable modem and a linksys wireless router installed. The user will replace this Linksystem with the Zoneinsite wireless router. The user will also verify there are no other routers or access points installed in the home. If there are, the user can either replace the access point with a zoneinsite AP so that they can install and control it easily, or the user can leave it in place, making sure the access point is acting as a bridge and not a router. We would always suggest from a security and ease of use view, that the user replace this additional AP with one that supports the Zoneinsite platform.

Example B: Small office network has a FIOS router with Wifi. The user will disable this wifi device and connect the Zoneinsight WAN gateway router to the fios router and will additionally install a network switch and two access points, all supported by the Zoneinsite platform. Once these elements are in place, the WAN gateway router will identify the system elements and present them for use in the WAN gateway routers LOCAL access/console web UI or using an app connected to the new Access point.

In these instances, the system will not allow internet access unless the user configures some levels of security (using a web redirect (captive portal)) but will allow access to the Cloud based Zoneinsite platform. Here the user, having an account and password, can add this new Site to their control domain so that they may access the network from anywhere in the world to add,change and support the networks needs (more on this later).

System Device Identification

One of the major changes the Zoneinsite platform brings to the table as a standard requirement is the idea that EVERY device on the network will be identified uniquely, whereas today, ALL devices are viewed as equal and anonymous. This will be achieved by Mac layer identification and enforcing.

Platform Service/Controls

The main goal of the zoneinsite platform is to supply a home or network administrator the ability to EASY and QUICKLY change the network access rules in the network. The platform (how I describe an installed system and the controls it has, whether locally configured or via cloud) can enforce in many many ways, some are listed below: