Does anyone know if devices have the ability to make use of Wake on LAN technology even if the devices were wireless. I am interested if you can comment further or point me in the direction of any information. We are looking at making desktops wireless and are concerned if we can wake them over encrypted wireless that use certificates for authentication with our windows domain. The wake on LAN would allow us to ensure that updates and maintenance can be undertaken on pc’s out of hours.
I know that most wireless cards can support wake on lan, however the challenge is setting up the wireless network to send the magic packets. In theory, this could be done, however, I have not come across a customer who has implemented this.
Based on what you described and since these are desktop computers, I would suggest making a scheduled wake for your maintenance windows. These do not require wake on lan and as long as the systems are in standby they can be woken. This is a very reliable method and will help ensure that all maintenance and updates are completed.
I would be happy to help you setup a policy with this in place.
Barclay