In the Juniper Mist AI ecosystem, the Wireless extensible LAN (WxLAN) is the modern, digital-ready policy framework used to allow or deny user access to network resources. Unlike traditional network architectures that rely on complex, manual access lists (ACLs) or cumbersome VLAN-based segmentation, WxLAN provides a simplified, label-based approach to network security. It enables micro-segmentation, allowing administrators to enforce granular access policies even for devices residing on the same flat Layer 2 network.
The core of a WxLAN policy is the association between Users and Resources using "labels".
Users are identified by labels representing Wi-Fi clients, specific WLANs, Access Points, or AAA attributes such as user groups received from a RADIUS server.
Resources are identified by labels representing specific hostnames, IP addresses, subnets, ports, or even entire application categories.
When creating a WxLAN policy, an administrator defines a set of rules processed from top to bottom. Each rule associates a user label with a resource label and specifies an action: Allow or Block. For example, a policy can be easily configured to allow a "Guest" user group access to "Social Media" while denying them access to "Internal Servers".
This framework is highly flexible, supporting both organization-level policies (within WLAN templates) and site-level policies. Because it is integrated directly into the Mist AI platform and enforced at the network edge (the APs), it provides real-time visibility and control without the need for additional hardware profilers or policy enforcers. By using "intent-based" labels rather than lines of complex CLI syntax, WxLAN simplifies the task of securing an enterprise-wide network for employees, guests, and IoT devices.
