Christine Austria and Curvature’s Networking Category Manager, Jesse Newton, are back to discuss this question – Building or Upgrading your IT Wireless Infrastructure? – in our series Ask the Expert.
Christine: Hello everyone! I’m Christine Austria and on this episode of “Ask the Expert”, we have Jesse Newton, Curvature’s Networking Category Manager, who will guide us through the process of planning and rolling out a new IT wireless deployment. Thanks for joining us today, Jesse.
Jesse: Thanks for having me, Christine! It’s great to be here
Key Points When Planning a Wireless Rollout
Christine: Yeah! So, let’s dive right in. When planning a new wireless rollout, what are some of the key points to consider?
Jesse: Well, a few of the key factors, a client’s going to need to address are–what is your budget? What is the size of the wireless deployment? And then what sort of future scalability would you like to have in your wireless network?
Christine: Okay, let’s start with budget. How does it influence the project?
Jesse: Well, of course budget sets the tone for your entire project. The good news is, all the leading OEMs that Curvature sells each have a wide range of solutions, from low-end to medium and high-end solutions.
Access Point (AP) Management
Christine: Okay, that’s reassuring. What about AP (access point) management? This seems to be a crucial aspect as well.
Jesse: Absolutely! When you’re considering a wireless project, one of the main questions you need to answer is “how will you be managing your APs”? And there are three types of APs you can buy, controllerless–which is just a simple plug and play, controller-based, and then hybrid or cloud-based solutions.
Christine: Can you elaborate on these options starting with controllerless AP?
Jesse: Sure! So, a controllerless access point is a simple install. You buy it, plug it into your network, your good to go. That’s for a simple deployment. The higher end your deployment, you’re going to be looking at, likely, a controller-based solution. Think about the controller as the conductor to your wireless orchestra. The controller can either be physical or virtual and will control the traffic and the policy for your entire wireless network. And then the last type is really a virtual or cloud-based solution, where your wireless network is managed through a cloud portal, giving you amazing visibility to your network traffic and control over any needs that arise or any issues that arise.
Right Sizing Equipment
Christine: Okay, so once I have my budget approved and I have an idea of what I want, can Curvature help me with sizing up the equipment?
Jesse: We sure can! Without diving too deep, some of the considerations include selecting the right hardware, the access points, and the controller methods, and then physically on your site, ensuring appropriate signal coverage and user density for your wireless network.
Christine: So, we’ve touched on budget and equipment, what if I need a turnkey solution as resources are stretched thin?
Jesse: Well Curvature can handle that as well! We can come on-site and initially do a wireless survey to help you install the access points in prime locations for optimal results.
Then we can come back on site and our professional services team can install everything and then our advanced engineering team can help you configure this. So, our goal here is to provide not just the hardware, but an end-to-end solution for our clients.
Christine: That’s fantastic! Sounds like we offer comprehensive support from planning to execution. Thanks for sharing this valuable information, Jesse. If you have any questions for Jesse Newton, or one of our sales engineers, simply leave a comment below or contact us today and we’ll see you next time on “Ask the Expert”.
To learn more about IT Wireless Deployment, contact us today!
