“We're upgrading the network!” is a phrase which brings comfort to the hearts of none. While it's true that network upgrades are often a necessity, and very often work out well in the end, no one likes being around while it's actually being done. Upgrading Network Infrastructure means hassle, outages, lost work, and on top of everything else, they always take longer than your
engineers think.
Or, at least that's how things used to be.
ADTRAN is a relative newcomer on the networking scene, but like many new entrants in a market, they've got some new ideas coming with them. Many of those ideas focus on trying to truly make networking easier. After all, basic networking technology is decades-old at this point. The TCP\IP protocol that powers the Internet was developed in the 1970s. We've had years and years of OS vendors finding ways to streamline matters like hardware installation and creating local workgroups.
So why should networking still be like trying to set up the Griswold family Christmas lights?
ADTRAN thinks it shouldn't be, and that's why they made Bluesocket. This new approach to enterprise networking seeks to make configuring a wireless Wide Area Network (WAN) as simple as pairing a Bluetooth device to your computer.
To demonstrate this, let's look at what it takes to prepare your network for a new "controllerless" controller.
Setting Up Your Network To Use Bluesocket
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Have a wired network supplied by POE Switches to where you want your access points (you can do it without POE, but you will need to buy AC adapters).
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Configure any wireless devices currently using Static IP addresses to use DHCP. (Chances are, this is how they're configured already.)
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Directly connect Controller Software to your main Internet Connection, between the connection and any wireless access points you have. It can also be connected to a hub or switch, if you want to reserve part of your connection solely for wired products.
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If necessary, log into the software with a nearby computer to feed it the authentication information necessary to connect through your Internet service.
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Point your wireless access points and mobile devices at the new controller.
Honestly, in the vast majority of circumstances, this is all you have to do.Your WiFi access
only needs to be cut off for a few minutes in most cases. Once it's installed, the controller can be configured remotely from any computer with access to the network.
However, that's downright tedious (lol) compared to the procedures for adding new ADTRAN access points to your network as it expands.
Adding Access Points To Your Network
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Buy an access point.
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Put the access point where you want it.
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Power up the access point.
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Load the license key into the controller software.
See what we mean about ADTRAN focusing on making things easy? Every Bluesocket access point is entirely “plug and play,” able to detect the existing vWLAN and get all the information it needs from the controller software. Once the initial network is set up, expanding it really is just a matter of buying new access points and turning them on.
So, if you're thinking it's time to upgrade your network, it's not something that has to bring your entire operation to a halt. ADTRAN has made network upgrades vastly easier than they have been in the past. With Bluesocket, you can bring 21st Century communications to your business, while still leaving room to grow.
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