by Managed WiFi is an enterprise-level service that enables an enterprise to outsource the various tasks involved in setting up, securing, configuring, maintaining, enhancing and/or optimizing a wireless network. It also enables organizations to reduce capital expenditure involved in setting up a wireless network. Major benefits of a managed WiFi service can include reduced total cost of ownership, improved performance, enhanced scalability and flexibility, and better productivity.
Most enterprise-level companies have their own public wifi network.
For many such companies, the hassle and time involved in managing their private connections via their own staff is too much. However, for other companies, particularly those who deal with highly confidential information or engage in risky business ventures, the lack of control over their networks makes it all but impossible to ensure top security. In such cases, a fully managed wireless access solution would prove to be the most viable option.
Such a Managed WiFi service works on the basis of dedicated Pointers, or devices, which are able to route calls between multiple access points. The Pointers are typically based on a special mesh network, which provides strong encryption and authentication to ensure secure data transmission. One of the most important roles of these devices is to act as gateway agents. This is the function they perform when clients plug in their routers into the Managed WiFi service and then use them to connect to the public wifi network provided by the cloud-based managed wifi service.
Managed home wifi networks are usually provided by internet service providers (ISP’s). A small initial investment from the client is then reimbursed over the course of time as long as the required hardware and software is in place and the client maintains his/her connection with the ISP for a stipulated amount of time. With this setup, users have full control over their connectivity and can choose to either add Pointers to the mesh network or to fully disconnect from the public wifi network at any time. A good thing about managed home WiFi is that the connection is always reliable and secure. It also offers the convenience of choosing your preferred ISP and sticking to their bundled services while still enjoying full connectivity to the internet.
There are quite a few advantages associated with managed wifi solutions.
Most importantly, users need not be technical savvy to deploy and manage their managed wifi solutions. The support service offered is usually very good and most ISPs offer technical support for their managed wifi solutions. One major benefit is that users need not pay extra for separate hardware components. The managed wifi hardware is already built into the ISP’s residential WISP’s equipment.
Another advantage associated with managed wifi providers is that it provides the freedom of configuring your device to suit your personal or business requirements. This means that you don’t need to contact your ISP each time you wish to change your device settings. For example, you can assign a unique IP address to each device that is connected to your managed wifi network. Also, you can adjust the SSID (subscriber-identifier) assigned to each device independently which significantly reduces bandwidth utilization by limiting the number of simultaneous connections.
Another major benefit of managed wifi services is that it helps organizations in saving considerable cost and resources related to establishing a wired broadband wireless network in an office premise. Most ISPs give special pricing and discounts to organizations that utilize their managed wireless services. Hence, a large number of organizations today have shifted to using this form of WAN connectivity instead of leasing a wired broadband network. In fact, it has been noted that regular maintenance services provided by ISPs help reduce their overall operational costs. An example of these services includes fixing any glitches that may be caused due to security flaws, patching any security vulnerabilities, and updating the client’s device software.
While it is true that an unmanaged WAN connection can provide faster internet access for employees working from home or in an office, they also pose significant security risks. It has been noted that hackers with unlimited bandwidth and access to the public internet can hack into and damage enterprise-based WAN routers and their data cabling.
- Moreover, employees who use unsecured WAN connections are more likely to download harmful programs to their computers or use unauthorised public internet connections, exposing company confidential data to these hackers.
- To ensure that your employees are not put at risk by these potential attack methods, it makes sense to consider a managed WAN solution in-house rather than outsourcing it.
- Therefore, investing in managed wireless services from an experienced managed service provider is a worthwhile investment that not only saves you money but also ensures the security of your organization’s data and networks.
