The secret about wireless networking is that it’s not as easy as we let on to our clients. The larger the environment gets, the harder it becomes to deploy a reliable wireless network.
Written by Aaron Gutin, Vice President of Sales for Custom Retailer in 2010.

Sure, if the client’s home is 2,000 square feet, there are many access points (AP’s) available that perform adequately, at best. These devices will cover the home, are marginally profitable, and the client will enjoy readily available Wi-Fi. Even the Wi-Fi enabled remote control you’ve deployed will stay connected. But what if you have a 12,000 square foot home to work with? Or 25,000? If you are like most integrators I know, those deployments have become an ongoing service nightmare.

For a moment, imagine the touch screen remote control you’ve sold your client is like a hitchhiker. As your remote reaches the end of one AP’s service area, it must ‘hitch’ a ride on another AP. In order for this to happen, the remote must stick out its proverbial thumb, wait for one of the other APs to stop, complete another process of authentication, and, assuming this all goes smoothly, continue on its original path. The problem with this scenario is that it lacks consistency. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and that’s no recipe for profitability.

It turns out that the solution to this issue has been available for several years. Before this issue came creeping into your projects, it was bothering manufacturers of enterprise grade networking equipment and their corporate clients. What they realized is that there are too many constantly shifting variables to manage in a wireless network with multiple APs. No single network engineer, nor a team of skilled network engineers, could keep up with all the changes needed to provide a perfectly balanced wireless network.

How did they solve this issue? They built a computer to do it for them. This device is called the wireless LAN controller, or WLAN controller, and the proper use of this device will make your wireless offering an engine for profit.

Think of the controller as a world class Wi-Fi engineering genius who doesn’t eat or sleep and lives only to manage wireless networks. When properly programmed, this device unifies any number of APs – 6, 12, 25 or more – into a cohesive unit. The controller unifies indoor APs with outdoor APs, and even allows you to broadcast multiple SSIDs (i.e. network names), including an isolated guest network for internet access only.

The advantage of the controller is that it centrally manages all of the APs. Using all of the attached APs as its eyes and ears, the controller continuously analyzes current environmental conditions and executes channel and radio strength adjustments in real time. This ensures that the wireless network is continuously optimized regardless of the number of devices attached to the network. Most importantly, for your touch screen remote controls, the controller tracks where network clients are moving, then hands them off from AP to AP wherever they may roam throughout the network.

Let’s face it, the networks you deploy in your clients’ homes aren’t getting any less complicated. In fact, a recent study by ABI research estimates that network-dependent CE devices will grow from a $100 billion business worldwide in 2009 to $243 billion in 2012. Most of these devices will be Wi-Fi enabled and rely on the network to deliver the promise of their individual feature sets. How many of those devices will deliver content to the home via your automation system? How much of that market will be yours?

For your service techs and the sanity of your entire staff, the wireless controller will provide your team with one vital feature that standard multi-AP deployments do not: a comprehensive log of wireless network activities. You would therefore be able to review the actions executed by the controller over the past several days immediately after a client reports an issue. Instead of the status quo you may have begrudgingly accepted – reboot or replace – you would now be able to effectively troubleshoot an issue on the wireless network.

Forget signal boosters, wireless bridges and power-over-electricity. The wireless controller is the solution the CE community has been looking for. None of those other options offer the intelligence, stability and reliability a controller-based wireless network offers your client and your bottom line.

So, what do you need to know to get started?

1. Manufacturers such as Cisco, 3COM and, my personal favorite, Ruckus Wireless, offer wireless controllers.
2. Like other products there will be differences between brands. Therefore, some research and testing is needed before committing to one particular brand.
3. Most controllers must be mated with access points from the same manufacturer.
4. There will be skills to acquire before actively deploying these systems. In fact, you may need to become certified by the manufacturer in order to purchase and deploy these products.
5. These systems might not fit the budget for every client, but for those environments larger than 2,000 square feet, there’s no better solution.

In the end, the controller will bring order to your wireless deployments, allow you to attach individual SSID’s to individual VLANs and, most importantly, provide your client with a seamless wireless network that performs exactly the way you intend it to.

Your clients already look to you for the solutions to many of their technological needs, now and for the future. Why not leverage your position as a technology expert and capture that business? If you can become a premiere supplier of robust wireless networking solutions, you will unleash an entirely new revenue stream on your business and find yourself positioned to profit from the proliferation of network dependant devices for years to come.