Save on costs when moving WiFi management to the cloud

Westcon is helping customers better manage the escalating costs of their WLANs with the delivery of Ruckus Cloud WiFi. By placing the management of WiFi in the cloud, the solution eliminates the growing need for on-premises controllers.

With Ruckus Cloud WiFi, available to Westcon resellers, customers can now better manage multi-site WiFi networks via a single pane of glass UI and a feature-rich mobile app. It also ensures you have visibility of the number and type of devices trying to access the network, as well as identifying bandwidth-intensive applications.

"WiFi use is booming, which is placing the spotlight on the type and nature of access points (APs) that are being deployed in an environment, as well as the need for better management of these APs," states Andries Janse van Rensburg, Ruckus Channel Manager at Westcon Sub-Saharan Africa. "But you can't control what type of APs you deploy unless you have visibility into the nature of traffic on them or the user behaviour, which is where Ruckus Cloud WiFi comes into play."

According to Janse van Rensburg, by having a better view of the network, clients can now elect to deploy high-capacity APs in parts of an environment where their application will help to lower the total cost of ownership of a WiFi network. He says high-capacity APs from Ruckus are able to support up to 30-50% more clients/hosts than traditional devices. This in turn saves on buying additional APs, as well as the associated subscription fees, cabling and switching costs that come with the deployment of multiple APs.

Furthermore, using inferior products or multiple small APs will degrade WiFi quality, increase noise and interference on the line, which will then lead to a disruption in service. With Ruckus patented RF technologies, the devices are able to deliver better throughput and coverage per AP. Ruckus Cloud WiFi works with the latest Ruckus 802.11ac APs for indoor and outdoor installations.

Another key selling point for Ruckus Cloud WiFi is that it allows for better guest network management, something that is growing in retail, corporate and public service environments. Through the management dashboard, you can secure, deploy and manage guest networks on the fly. This means you no longer need highly skilled technical teams to deploy networks, it is all done via an intuitive and easy to use setup wizard.

The Ruckus platform is also integrated with a host of third party guest WiFi marketing platforms. This in turn enables clients to access guest analytics to determine behaviour, usage as well as deliver targeted marketing platforms to their own customers.

Ruckus Cloud WiFi includes feature-rich functionality such as: AP management, instant availability of new features, automatic security updates, native full-featured mobile app, reporting and analytics, 24x7 phone/chat/web technical support and is available on an optional one-, three- or five-year subscription basis.

"WiFi is growing, we can't curb it, we need to better manage it, which is what makes the Ruckus Cloud WiFi service so attractive. With this service you now have the flexibility of migrating from one management architecture (virtual controller, appliance-based controller, controller-less, or cloud) to another (or a hybrid deployment) without losing the use of your APs. It really takes the guesswork out of WiFi management," ends Janse van Rensburg.