Wireless Access

Can the Aruba controller or Clearpass manager (or guest) utilize user based certificates for authentication for smartphones (IOS, BB, Android)?

Yes, both support EAP-TLS

ok, how would I get the cert on the devices?

For ClearPass, you would buy Onboarding licenses, which would assist in generating the certificates and pushing them to your mobile devices.

would that remove users from having to enter creds in a captive portal?  we have an issue with our users domain accounts constantly locking out.. generally from their smart devices.. hardcoded passwords for the employee wifi, email, etc.... so less devices that have hard coded creds the better..

Yes, it would relieve your users from having to type their credentials into a captive portal.  Once the devices are onboarded, they automatically connect to your 802.1X SSID using the certificate that was pushed to the device.

 

They're technically the same product now.  Although, configuration of onboarding still requires going to the Guest area for configuration.  You can't do it all through one window.

and would it be with Clearpass Manager or Guest?

The ideal setup would be to use ClearPass Onboarding which would take care
of the enrollment process for the users. Onboard is not included in the
base license.

The do-it-yourself version would be to stand up active directory
certificates services and users can generate and install client
certificates. The ClearPass can be configured to authenticate the user
with their certificate.