Case Study: Hutt City Council achieves secure, reliable public WiFi for citizens with SonicWall next-generation firewalls

Citizens gain secure WiFi access in public spaces

Hutt City Council in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, needed reliable, easy-to-use public WiFi across eight libraries and other municipal sites while protecting its administrative networks and controlling bandwidth and usage. To address this, the council turned to SonicWall, deploying next-generation firewalls (NSA 4600, 3500, and TZ Series), SonicPoint wireless access points and the SonicWall Comprehensive Gateway Security Suite.

SonicWall implemented segmented guest networks and access controls—using NSA 4600 at corporate and event sites, TZ firewalls at branches and SonicPoints for wireless access—plus bandwidth, IP and usage limits and SSL VPN for staff. The result: consistent, password-free WiFi for patrons (up to 100 simultaneous users in the main library), public coverage for events of about 10,000 spectators, secure WiFi across 26 locations, reduced IT maintenance effort and improved staff productivity, with Hutt City Council reporting no security or performance issues.

Hutt City Council

Rob van Endt

Chief Information Officer