WLAN

What is WLAN?

Wi‑Fi networks are a type of WLAN but not all WLANs are Wi‑Fi. Other radio transmissions that connect local network nodes are also WLANs. However, Wi‑Fi is the type of WLAN that is most widely used.

• Growth in mobility and IoT: According to IDC, IoT is forecast to growth to 41.6bn devices by 2025, generating 79.4 zettabytes of data. Mobility, roaming, cloud, cellular offload, device onboarding, and security issues mean that Wi‑Fi needs to support convergence, higher throughput, and more efficient RF utilization.
• Growth in diversity and bandwidth demands of applications: Latency sensitive video applications are on the rise with 45%/year growth through 2023.
• Growth in user expectations: Low tolerance for poor network performance leads to executive pressure. The network and applications must be accessible from anywhere, secure, and always on.

Wireless controllers, sometimes referred to as gateways when operating in a cloud-managed environment, provide high-performance access, resiliency, and security across the WLAN, LAN, and SD-WAN.

Next generation WLAN controllers deliver:

• Performance at scale to support thousands of APs and devices with 24×7 reliability, zero touch provisioning, and live upgrades thereby reducing the need for on-site IT support.
• Security enforcement with granular role-based rules and dynamic segmentation.
• L2/L3 roaming across VLANS to allow seamless handoffs and improved user experience.
• N+1 or NxN redundancy for greater performance and scale.