How to Solve the Pain of 802.1X Authentication

[...]with 802.1X, a valid and authenticated printer with 802.1X supplicant can access the corporate network and do as it pleases, when it pleases, and with whichever organizational resources it deems useful. 802.1X can give devices a ‘free pass’ onto the network that may be difficult to control without the appropriate network access control or device management solutions in place. [...]it allows for ease of management, unlike other authentication methods that use pre-shared keys (PSKs), which can be difficult to control and may even result in data loss. 802.1X depends on certificates (WEP) and/or user credentials to grant access. When offered according to this model, there is no need for physical deployment or network hardware (unless it already exists, such as RADIUS or Active Directory server), which significantly cuts the costs and deployment time previously associated with the authentication protocol.