Overview
Group Policies allow administrators to apply customised network settings to specific users, devices, or traffic groups. They are commonly used to manage bandwidth, restrict access, apply firewall rules, or provide enhanced privileges for certain user types. This article explains how to create a Group Policy and provides examples of common configurations.
Steps to Create a Group Policy
- Navigate to Network-wide > Configure > Group policies.
- Select Add a group to create a new policy.
- Enter a Name for the policy. Choose a descriptive label such as Guests, Throttled Users, or Executives.
- Adjust the available settings as required. Any settings left unchanged will inherit the existing network defaults.
- Click Save Changes to apply the configuration.
Once saved, the new Group Policy will appear in the Group Policies list and can be assigned to clients or SSIDs. Note: A Group Policy has no effect until it is actively applied.
Example Group Policies
Below are two common scenarios demonstrating how Group Policies can be used to deliver customised network experiences.
Guest User Policy
The following example is meant to demonstrate how a group policy could be configured on a network to limit the access and speed of guest clients. This policy would accomplish the following:
- Limit client bandwidth to 2 Mbps up/down
- Deny access to the internal network (10.0.0.0/8)
- Block peer‑to‑peer file‑sharing applications
- Inherit all other default network settings (security, content filtering, etc.)
Bandwidth limit cannot be set lower than 20 kbps.
It is not possible to enter multiple comma-separated ports in group policy custom layer 3 firewall rules. Ports must be in
the range of 1-65535, or "any."
Executive Users on Wireless
This example demonstrates how a group policy could be used on a wireless network to provide executive users with more freedom and special treatment over other users. This policy would accomplish the following:
- Remove bandwidth restrictions
- Disable hostname visibility
- Remove Layer 3/7 firewall rules
- Apply QoS tagging for voice and video‑conferencing traffic
- Remove splash page requirements
- Inherit all other default network settings