Organizations are increasingly dependent on high-speed, high-capacity wireless networks to provide users with access to applications, services, and data. However, deploying, managing, and scaling these networks has become a significant burden as Wi-Fi traffic has surged to record levels over the past two years.

Analysts say Wi-Fi traffic has increased by up to 80 percent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, placing greater demands on wireless networks. There have been increased reports of dropped connections, slow downloads, increased interference, and bandwidth restrictions. In one survey, network administrators reported spending roughly a quarter of their time troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues. 

Issues are particularly acute in organizations that are still using older Wi-Fi equipment based on legacy standards. They need a more flexible solution that can accommodate sudden increases in traffic and deliver service to growing numbers of locations, users, and devices. Cloud-managed Wi-Fi fits the bill.

By eliminating the need for on-premises controllers, cloud-managed Wi-Fi makes it easier to deploy and manage Wi-Fi networks. Virtual controllers placed in the cloud can be managed from a web-based dashboard, allowing administrators to control the entire wireless network from one interface. That feature alone represents a major benefit for organizations with multiple sites.

IDC reports that cloud-managed Wi-Fi is growing at double-digit rates year-over-year, making it the fastest-growing segment of the Wi-Fi infrastructure market. That’s largely due to the multitude of operational and cost benefits it can deliver. These benefits include:

• Reduced controller costs. Physical controllers represent a significant capital investment, especially considering the need for redundancy. IDC estimates that organizations can save $720 per access point (AP) by moving to virtual controllers in the cloud, representing a 71 percent reduction in infrastructure expenses. 
• Easy deployment. Preconfigured APs can be set up in a plug-and-play fashion in a matter of minutes, reducing total deployment time by up to 90 percent. It also saves IT staff hours of work by eliminating the need to configure APs manually, as well as the need to travel to distant offices.
• Extreme scalability. On-premises controllers can only manage a limited number of APs on a single platform, which limits scalability. Expanding beyond that limit requires purchasing and deploying additional controllers. Cloud-managed controllers can manage thousands of APs with no additional cost or complexity.
• Remote monitoring. With a centralized cloud dashboard, administrators can remotely monitor and manage the network from any location and any device. They can monitor AP health, bandwidth limits, network modes and other settings from a PC, tablet, or smartphone.
• Enhanced security. Integrated threat prevention capabilities help identify rogue APs, unauthorized users, denial-of-service attacks, and more with very few false positives.  
• Easy updates. The centralized management console can push out firmware and security updates to all sites, minimizing disruptions. Administrators have to schedule a window when the updates should occur.
• Improved troubleshooting. Heuristic algorithms rapidly identify issues impacting network performance, providing rapid root cause analysis. This data is presented graphically through the cloud dashboard, making it easy to pinpoint problem areas.
• App integration. A variety of application programming interfaces (APIs) enable integration with specialized applications that can add value, including security, analytics, content filtering, and location-based services.

Increasing users and devices have placed a strain on existing Wi-Fi infrastructure. Cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions offer a variety of benefits to help organizations cope with increased demand. Call us to learn more about these solutions and how they can help your organization improve the user experience.