Wireless Consulting Services

Cisco Wi-Fi controllers streamline the administration of Wi-Fi environments by centralizing the deployment and control of Wi-Fi access points, optimizing Wi-Fi performance by reducing the impact of RF interference, improving Wi-Fi uptime with rapid auto-failover, and hardening protection by uncovering threats and filtering content based on user type and location.

Cisco WiFi controllers work with Cisco's Prime Infrastructure platform, which can support up to 6,000 wireless APs and 64,000 users. Cisco's family of wireless controllers are available at prices and with capabilities appropriate for venues ranging from branch offices to service provider networks, enterprises, and dense campus environments. Cisco's Wave 2 WiFi controllers and Wi-Fi access points are engineered to deliver the high standard of protection, performance and reliability that users are accustomed to from their wired network. Cisco's technology incorporates built-in mobility support such as IP voice, HD video, and protected guest access. Cisco's Prime Infrastructure architecture makes it possible for organizations to build systems that integrate wired and wireless networks into a unified ecosystem that ensures a consistent and productive work environment.

Progent's seasoned Wi-Fi consultants can assist you to assess the business value of deploying Cisco wireless controllers to administer wireless environments of any scale. Progent can assist your business to manage and debug your current Cisco wireless ecosystem or assist you to plan and carry out a smooth migration from earlier generation Wi-Fi controllers to modern models to deliver improved performance and protection and to simplify management.

Progent's Cisco-certified network infrastructure consultants can provide affordable online consulting and support services throughout the U.S. to assist businesses to create and refine Wi-Fi solutions. Progent also offers onsite consulting and troubleshooting in major metropolitan areas across the United States and in Toronto, Canada. In addition, Progent offers affordable online and on-premises Wi-Fi Site surveys to assist your company to design a Wi-Fi network with wireless access points located and configured efficiently for your specific office layout, traffic volume, and client density.

Cisco Wave 2 802.11ax Wireless LAN Controllers
Cisco Wave 2 Wi-Fi controllers enable realtime data exchange, provisioning, management, monitoring and troubleshooting for Cisco wireless appliances and services. Cisco offers both hardware and virtual Wi-Fi controllers for centralized administration of WiFi networks, but WLANs with a large number of wireless APs are better served by hardware-based Wi-Fi controllers. New Wi-Fi controller devices from Cisco offer significant advantages in comparison to Wave 1 and earlier models such as greater throughput, concurrent support for 1G and 10G Ethernet, improved application visibility and control (AVC), and hardened, built-in security.

Cisco's 3504 WiFi Controller is an entry-level device with a desktop body and designed for smaller businesses. You can use the 3504 model in a centralized network environment such as in small branch and home-based offices administered over the WAN with Cisco FlexConnect, or in bridge deployments where Ethernet cabling is sparse. The 3504 wireless controller supports as many as 150 APs and 3,000 users, delivers 4 Gbps performance, and supports up to 4,096 VLANs. The 3504 WiFi controller features a multi-gigabit Ethernet port (up to 5 Gigabit Ethernet) and four 1-Gigabit Ethernet connections. APs can be connected directly to the controller via two Power over Ethernet (PoE) ports. The 3504 wireless controller offers subsecond failover for APs and clients, which provides high availability for applications. Like other current Wave 2 wireless controllers from Cisco, the 3504 device has the built-in capability to communicate with Cisco Prime Infrastructure, Cisco Mobility Services, and Cisco 5520 and 8540 wireless controllers.

Cisco's 5520 WiFi Controller, offered in a 1 rack unit (RU) form factor, is designed for midsize to large enterprises and campus networks and can be used in centralized, distributed, and mesh architectures. The 5520 Wi-Fi controller can handle up to 1,500 access points and 20,000 client users, delivers 20 Gbps performance, and supports up to 4,096 VLANs. The 5520 WiFi controller includes two 10 GE interfaces and features SSD storage, redundant fans, optional redundant power supplies, and subsecond failover for uninterrupted availability.

The Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller, available in a 2 rack unit (RU) package, is a high-end wireless controller designed to support enterprises, service providers, and large campus environments. The 8540 WiFi controller can be used in centralized, distributed, and mesh deployments and supports up to 6,000 wireless APs and 64,000 clients. The 8540 Wireless controller can deliver throughput up to 40 Gbps and supports 4,096 VLANs. The 8340 includes four 1-GB or 10GE ports and features solid-state storage, dual power supplies, backup fans, and rapid failover.

Wave 1 Cisco WiFi Network Controllers
Cisco wireless network controllers reduce the effort and expense needed to deploy, monitor, and troubleshoot wireless networks by centralizing control of functions like provisioning access points, applying consistent policies across converged wired and wireless LANs, supporting enterprise-wide QoS for IP voice and HD video, tracking and optimizing system health, activating intrusion prevention capabilities to defend against unauthorized access and Distributed Denial of Service threats, and managing IPv6 clients. Cisco has designed wireless network controllers for businesses of any size and can provide standalone desktop appliances, modular add-on wireless controllers for Cisco ISR routers and switches, and switches with built-in wireless LAN controllers.

Cisco's Wave 1 wireless controllers include Cisco CleanAir technology to avoid signal interference and create self-healing wireless LANs for maximum 802.11n and 802.11ac performance and protection. Integrated Bonjour Gateways allow discovery and policy throughout WLAN, LAN and WAN for Apple applications. For fault tolerance, Cisco wireless network controllers support access point and client stateful switchover by enabling a backup HA wireless controller to synch with a main wireless controller for AP license tabulation, CAPWAP state and roaming keys, and AP CAPWAP state. If the primary controller stops working, thousands of wireless access points and wireless clients can failover in less than a second to the secondary wireless network controller.

Cisco's Wireless Controller Module for ISR Routers with UCS-E offers basic 802.11n and 802.11ac capability for Cisco 2900 and 3900 routers used by small to medium-sized businesses and branches. This value-priced and scalable solution can handle from five to 200 APs and as many as 6000 wireless clients. (To find out about Progent's online and onsite consulting and troubleshooting support for Cisco routers, refer to Cisco router deployment and management support.)

Catalyst 3650 Series are 1RU switches designed for SMBs and branch offices and come with an integrated wireless controller with the ability to handle 40 Gb of wireless capacity per switch and up to 25 APs and 1000 clients on each switch. Catalyst 3850 Series are 1RU switches designed for mid-size and large organizations and feature a built-in wireless network controller with up to 40 Gb of wireless capacity per switch and the ability to handle up to 50 access points and up to 2000 wireless clients. The Wireless Services Module2 (WiSM2) is a plug-in blade for Catalyst 6500 Series switches with an integrated wireless controller intended for mid-to-large size enterprises and capable of 20 Gbps performance and able to handle up to 1000 APs and up to 15,000 clients. (To learn concerning Progent's online and onsite consulting support for Cisco Catalyst switches, refer to Cisco switches configuration and troubleshooting services.)

Cisco 2500 Series Wireless Controllers are economical desktop devices that streamline the provisioning and management of Wi-Fi networks for small to medium-sized enterprises and branches. The Cisco 2500 Series wireless controller can manage from five to 75 access points and up to 1000 clients and offers throughput of up to 1 Gbps.

Cisco's 5500 Series Wireless Controller is a scalable 1RU appliance designed for mid-to-large sized businesses and campus environments and can manage up to 500 APs and 7,000 clients while providing 8 Gbps performance. The Cisco 5760 Wireless Controller is a 1RU appliance designed for mid-to-large campus environments with support for 1000 wireless access points and 12,000 wireless clients and delivering throughput of 60 Gbps to handle high client densities and high usage of video-intensive applications.

The Cisco Flex 7500 Series Wireless Controller is designed to manage massive collections of wireless branches from one location, eliminating the need for a Wi-Fi controller at each branch. The 1RU Flex 7500 allows you to build a private cloud to deploy, monitor, manage, and troubleshoot as many as 6000 access points and 64,000 clients while supporting 1 Gbps throughput. Cisco's 8500 Series Wireless Controller is a 1RU appliance designed to monitor and manage wireless environments for large campuses or service providers and can be expanded to handle up to 6000 wireless points and up to 64,000 clients while offering 10 Gbps performance.

Contact Progent for Consulting Support for Cisco Wireless Controllers
To contact Progent about consulting services for Cisco wireless controllers, call 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.

To find out about Progent's additional consulting and troubleshooting services for Cisco technology, select a topic:

• Introduction to Progent's Cisco Engineering Services
• Fast and Affordable Remote Support from a Cisco CCIE Network Engineer
• Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewalls: Integration and Troubleshooting Services
• ASA 5500-X Firewall with Firepower Services: Consulting and Management Expertise
• ASA 5500 Firewall Troubleshooting Assistance
• PIX 500 Firewall Upgrade. Migration Support
• Cisco Routers Engineering Expertise
• Cisco Wireless Consulting Help
• Aironet Access Points Design Support
• Cisco Small Business Wireless Access Points Engineering Expertise
• Cisco Meraki APs Consulting Services
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Configuration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco Voice over IP (VoIP) Phones and IP Video Desktop Phones Consulting and Cisco Wireless IP Phone Configuration
• Cisco Jabber Deployment Expertise
• Cisco Catalyst Switches Consulting and Support Services
• Cisco Nexus Switches Consulting and Support Expertise
• Meraki MS Switches Consulting and Support Expertise
• Cisco Security and VPN Engineering Support
• SIP and CUBE Infrastructure Solutions: SIP PSTN Trunks and CUBE Integration Expertise
• Infrastructure Design for Cisco-based Datacenters
• Infrastructure Design Consulting for Service Providers
• Streamlined Management Techniques for Cisco Environments