Cisco Certified Expert Network Consulting and Support

Cisco has developed a comprehensive line of wireless networking products and technologies that provide continual access to data and resources and to promote teamwork among workers, partners, vendors, and clients. Cisco's wireless offerings include Cisco's Small Business, Aironet and Meraki series of wireless access points, plus Cisco's Wireless LAN Controller plug-ins and appliances. Progent's Cisco-certified wireless experts can help organizations of any size to deploy Cisco wireless solutions to accommodate the current model of Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) computing by integrating their wired and wireless environments to benefit from easy configuration, consistently high throughput, single-point management, enterprise-wide policy enforcement, high availability, and advanced security.

Cisco's Unified Wireless Network solution can expand to as many as 18,000 wireless access points with full Layer 3 mobility across central or remote venues like enterprise campuses, college auditoriums, branch offices, and telecommuter homes. Cisco's 802.11x wireless access points and wireless controllers are part of Cisco's Unified Wireless Network and are engineered to support the same degree of protection, performance, and manageability for WLANs that businesses expect in their wired ecosystem. This architecture includes integrated mobile services like Voice over IP, HD video, and safe guest connectivity. Cisco's Unified Wireless Network technology allows companies to build Wi-Fi ecosystems that streamline the way they do business and improve productivity via a dynamic and collaborative employee base.

Progent's Cisco CCIE network infrastructure consulting services can provide online or on-premises support to help your organization to design, configure, manage, expand, and troubleshoot converged wired/wireless networks of all sizes and for any environment. In addition, Progent offers value-priced online and onsite wireless site surveys to help you to design and install a wireless LAN with customized AP clustering optimized for your individual work area layout, building characteristics, and intended application.

Small Business, Aironet and Meraki Access Points (APs)
Cisco's Small Business, Aironet and Meraki families of access points allow you to converge wired/wireless infrastructure to provide the coverage, capacity, performance, protection and ease of management required to support virtually any scenario. Cisco's wireless access points start at bare bones, single-band 802.11b/g/n units with data rates of 300 Mb intended for very small businesses or home offices to dual-radio 802.11ac wireless access points capable of handling hundreds of clients on each access point and delivering sustained data rates as high as 1.9 Gbps. Cisco's latest line of APs can be combined or clustered to provide the capacity to support sites crowded with clients and with a high incidence of video-intense application software.

Small Business Series of Access Points
Cisco's Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Family of APs are Linux-based devices intended as entry-level wireless solutions for light workloads. Most versions in the Cisco Small Business line of access points support Cisco's Single Point Setup technology, which makes it possible to set up, control and repair a group of wireless access points from one device via a simple browser-based tool. All models support POE and provide Quality of Service (QoS), rogue access point detection, and bridging for connecting to a second network.

Cisco's Small Business WAP121 Wireless-N AP is a wallmount, single-band 2.4GHz unit able to handle 16 active 802.11b/g/n wireless clients, has a 10/100 Ethernet port, allows up to 4 access pointss and 40 wireless clients per cluster, and supports sustained data rates of 300 Mbps. Cisco's Small Business WAP131 is a desktop dual-radio 802.11a/b/g/n access point able to support 16 wireless clients per radio for a total of up to 32 clients, includes a GE interface, and can support throughput of 300 Mbps for each radio. The WAP131 Wireless-N does not allow AP clustering. The Cisco WAP150 is an entry-level dual-radio 802.11ac/n AP that features a one Gbit Power over Ethernet port and can handle up to 16 clients per radio with 867 Mbps performance for AC clients and 300 Mbps for 802.11n clients. The Cisco WAP1501 allows 4 access points for each cluster.

The Cisco Small Business WAP321 Access Point is a wallmount selectable-band (2.4 or 5 GHz) 802.11a/b/g/n unit that can handle 80 wireless clients in an 8-device cluster. The WAP321 has a Gigabit Ethernet interface and can support a data rate of 300 Mbps for the selected radio. Cisco's WAP351 is a dual-band 2.4/5 GHz 802.11a/b/g/n access point that includes a 5-port Gigabit Ethernet switch and can handle 32 wireless clients on each radio for a total of up to 64 clients, and support throughput of 300 Mbps per radio. The WAP351 AP does not support clustering. The Cisco Small Business WAP361 is a dual-band 802.11ac access point that features a 5-port Gigabit Ethernet switch, allows 32 active WLAN clients on each radio, and delivers 867 Mbps throughput for wireless AC clients and 300 Mbps performance for 802.11n clients. Cisco's WAP361 supports eight WAP361 access points for each cluster. Cisco's wall-mountable WAP371 Wireless-AC/N is a dual-band device that supports 802.11a/b/g/n as well as the latest 802.11ac wireless networking specification. The WAP371 Wireless-AC/N has a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port, can support up to 32 active wireless clients per radio, and 8 access points per cluster.

Cisco's WAP561 802.11n Dual Radio Selectable Band access point features a Gigabit Ethernet LAN interface and dual radios (2.4 and 5.0 GHz) that deliver 450 Mbps performance per radio, can handle 64 clients for each radio, and allow 16 access points for each cluster. The Cisco WAP551 is like the WAP 561 but features a single selectable band. Cisco's Small Business WAP571 and WAP571E (a ruggedized outside version) are dual-radio 802.11ac Wave 1 APs that feature 2 x GE interfaces with link aggregation, and as high as 1.9 Gbps performance with 1300 Mbps over 802.11ac and 600 Mbps on 11n. Both units support 32 active WAN clients on each radio and 16 APs on each cluster.

For details about Progent's support for both current and legacy Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 family of WiFi APs, see Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 WiFi access points consulting services.

Cisco's Aironet Line of Access Points
The Aironet line of indoor and outdoor wireless APs has for years been the leading AP solution. Aironet wireless access points range from value priced devices to advanced units. Cisco's Aironet family cover several generations of devices supporting the evolving 11x specification. The latest portfolio of Aironet wireless access points support Cisco's Unified Wireless Network software and come with 802.11ac Wi-Fi support, which delivers three times the performance as well as greater coverage and user density in comparison to the previous generation of devices. The latest dual-frequency Aironet APs can handle 802.11n at 2.4 GHz for client devices without 802.11ac capability.

The earliest Aironet access points are now legacy devices that have reached end-of-life status and are no longer supported by Cisco. Progent continues to support the complete Aironet family of APs and can help your company to maintain your current Aironet wireless environment or move smoothly to current Aironet products. To find out more about Progent's consulting services for current and outdated Aironet wireless access points, refer to Cisco Aironet access points consulting.

Cisco's Meraki Wireless Access Points
Cisco's portfolio of Meraki dual-band 2.4/5 GHz indoor access points range from budget-friendly devices for small businesses to enterprise-class units that offer as high as 2.5 Gigabit per second throughput. Every Meraki indoor access point offers next-generation capabilities such as plug-and-play installation, advanced protection, BYOD support, built-in traffic analysis, zero-touch over-the-web updates, and centralized cloud-based management for multiple sites. Every Cisco Meraki indoor wireless access point also includes dual high-power client-serving radios with enhanced reception plus a separate radio that provides intrusion detection and prevention system (WIDS/WIPS) security for RF analysis and deep packet inspection.

Meraki outdoor wireless access points are IP67 certified, designed to withstand rugged outdoor environments, and able to resist dust particles, shock and moisture. Cisco's Meraki outdoor wireless access points include a 1 x Gbit Ethernet port and deliver advanced capabilities such as cloud management with multi-site visibility and control, 802.1X and native Active Directory integration, built-in antivirus scan, 1-click secure guest access and isolation firewall, application-aware traffic shaping, plus auto-configuring mesh with beamforming. To find out more about Progent's support for Cisco's Meraki access points and management tools, refer to Meraki APs consulting.

Cisco Wave 2 802.11ax WiFi Network Controllers
Cisco Wave 2 wireless controllers allow fast communication, deployment, control, analysis and debugging for Cisco wireless appliances and services. Cisco has developed both hardware and software-based wireless controllers for unified administration of WiFi networks, but systems with many wireless APs typically require hardware-based Wi-Fi controllers. New Wi-Fi controller appliances from Cisco offer significant advantages in comparison to Wave 1 and older models including greater performance, 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 form factor and designed for smaller organizations. You can use the 3504 model in a centralized WLAN environment such as in lean branch and home-based offices managed across the WAN via FlexConnect, or in bridge deployments where Ethernet cabling is limited. The 3504 Wi-Fi controller supports as many as 150 wireless APs and 3,000 users, delivers 4 Gbps performance, and supports up to 4,096 VLANs. The 3504 WiFi controller features a Cisco Multigigabit interface and four 1-Gigabit Ethernet ports. APs can be connected directly to the WiFi controller via two PoE ports. The 3504 wireless controller features subsecond failover for APs and clients, which allows high availability for applications. Like other Wave 2 wireless controllers available from Cisco, the 3504 device has the built-in ability to work with Cisco Prime Infrastructure, Cisco Mobility Services Engine, and Cisco 5520 and 8540 WLAN controllers.

Cisco's 5520 Wireless Controller, available in a 1 rack unit enclosure, is intended for larger organizations and campus environments and can be run in centralized, distributed, and mesh architectures. The 5520 Wi-Fi controller supports as many as 1,500 APs and 20,000 client users, offers 20 Gbps performance, and supports up to 4,096 VLANs. The 5520 WiFi controller features two 10 GE ports and incorporates SSD storage, backup fans, optional redundant power supplies, and rapid failover for uninterrupted availability.

The Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller, available in a 2 rack unit form factor, is a high-end WiFi controller intended to support large enterprises, service providers, and large campus environments. The 8540 WiFi controller can be run in centralized, distributed, and mesh deployments and can handle as many as 6,000 wireless APs and 64,000 clients. The 8540 Wireless controller can deliver data rates as high as 40 Gbps and supports 4,096 VLANs. The 8540 controller comes with four 1-GB or 10GE interfaces and features SSD storage, dual power supplies, redundant fans, and subsecond failover.

Wave 1 Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Cisco wireless LAN controllers cut the time and expense required to deploy, monitor, and operate wireless networks by centralizing control of critical functions such as setting up wireless access points, enforcing consistent policies across converged wired and wireless LANs, supporting enterprise-wide QoS for voice and HD video, tracking and optimizing system health, implementing intrusion prevention tools to guard against unauthorized access and DDoS attacks, and handling IPv6 and dual-stack clients. Cisco has designed wireless LAN controllers for businesses of any size and can provide desktop or rackmount appliances, modular add-on controllers for Cisco ISR routers and Catalyst switches, and switches with integrated wireless controllers.

Cisco's Wave 1 WiFi LAN controllers include Cisco CleanAir technology to minimize signal interference and produce self-healing and self-optimizing wireless networks for top 802.11n and 802.11ac throughput and security. Integrated Apple Bonjour Gateways allow discovery throughout WLAN, LAN and WAN for Apple applications. For high availability, Cisco wireless network controllers allow access point and client stateful switchover by permitting a backup HA wireless controller to synch with a primary wireless controller for AP license count, CAPWAP state and roaming keys, and AP CAPWAP state. In case the primary controller goes down, thousands of access points and clients can switchover at subsecond speeds to the secondary wireless network controller.

Cisco's Wireless Module for ISR G2 Routers with UCS-E provides entry-level 802.11n and 802.11ac capability for 2900 and 3900 routers used by smaller organizations and branch offices. This value-priced and scalable module can handle from five to 200 wireless access points and up to 6000 wireless clients. (To find out about Progent's online and onsite consulting and troubleshooting support for Cisco routers, refer to Cisco router configuration and management consulting.)

Cisco Catalyst 3650 Series are 1RU switches intended for small to mid-size businesses and branch offices and features an integrated wireless LAN controller with the capability to handle 40 Gb of wireless capacity for each switch and up to 25 access points and 1000 clients per switch or stack. Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series are 1RU rackmount switches intended for midsize and large organizations and feature an integrated wireless LAN controller supporting up to 40 Gb of wireless capacity on each switch and the ability to handle up to 50 wireless access points and up to 2000 wireless clients. The Wireless Services Module2 is an add-in blade for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches that include a built-in wireless network controller intended for mid-to-large size enterprises and capable of 20 Gbps throughput and able to handle up to 1000 wireless access points and 15,000 clients. (To find out concerning Progent's consulting services for Cisco Catalyst switches, see Cisco switches configuration and troubleshooting consulting.)

Cisco 2500 Wireless Controllers are entry-level desktop appliances that simplify the deployment and management of Wi-Fi LANs for small to medium-sized enterprises and branches. The 2500 Series wireless LAN controller supports 5 to 75 APs and 1000 clients and offers sustained data rates of up to 1 Gbps.

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

Cisco's Flex 7500 Series Wireless Controller is intended to manage thousands of wireless branches from one datacenter, avoiding the requirement for a wireless controller at each branch. The 1RU Flex 7500 appliance lets you create a private cloud to deploy, monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot as many as 6000 APs and up to 64,000 clients while supporting 1 Gbps performance. The Cisco 8500 Wireless Controller is a 1RU rackmount device engineered to monitor and manage wireless networks for very large campuses or for service providers and can scale to handle 6000 wireless points and 64,000 wireless clients while delivering 10 Gbps performance.

To learn more about Cisco WiFi controllers, visit Cisco Wi-Fi controllers consulting services.

Legacy Cisco APs, LAN Bridges and Controllers Supported by Progent
The 802.11ac specification for Wi-Fi virtually rendered obsolete all previous generations of Wi-Fi devices for venues that have high numbers of clients and high incidence of HD video applications. Even for businesses who do not currently need the performance of 802.11ac Wi-Fi, many of Cisco wireless devices have reached end-of-life status, which can pose serious maintenance and regulatory compliance problems. Progent's Cisco-certified consultants provide remote and on-premises support for a wide range of earlier-generation wireless products from Cisco. Progent can in addition help companies to assess the financial justification for upgrading up-of-date wireless infrastructure and can help in designing and carrying out affordable, seamless migrations. Below are a sample of Cisco older-generation wireless devices that Progent's consulting experts continue to support.

Legacy Cisco Aironet Wireless Access Points
Aironet 1000 or 1130AG family wireless access points are intended for conventional workplaces and similar locations which have minimal environmental variability. These products include built-in antennas that offer predictable omnidirectional range patterns. The Cisco 1130G Series product is available for controlled locations that do not allow 802.11a operation.

Cisco Aironet 1230AG/1240AG family access points are intended for more problematic RF situations like manufacturing plants or above suspended ceilings which tend to require adjustable external antennas and durable enclosures. The Cisco 1240G Series AP is intended for restricted domains that do not allow 5GHz transmission.

Cisco Aironet 1500 lightweight outside wireless mesh APs provide a cost-effective, expandable, secure outdoor wireless technology for enterprise campuses and for public venues that need access for portable devices.

Legacy Cisco Wireless LAN Bridges
Cisco Aironet wireless LAN bridges provide a high-throughput and multi-featured technology for integrating numerous local area networks in a metropolitan situation or public access environment. Cisco wireless LAN bridges offer a versatile, manageable solution that meets the security needs of WAN professionals. These bridges support both PTP and PTMP deployments with good range and the ability to handle traffic rates as high as 54 Mbps.

Cisco Aironet wireless bridges deliver data rates several times faster than E1/T1 connections for far less expense, eliminating the necessity of expensive leased lines when linking separate buildings. Because wireless bridges require no periodic costs, savings on leased-line bills rapidly pay for the startup hardware costs. Private lines and in some cases leased lines made of copper or fiber-optic cable can require very expensive up-front expenses in cases where they are separated by obstacles such as freeways, train tracks, or bodies of water. Cisco wireless LAN bridges can be deployed quickly with a fast ROI.

Cisco 1300 Series outdoor access points/bridges can be deployed as stand-alone access points, bridges, or workgroup bridges. These products have a ruggedized enclosure and provide fast, economical wireless connectivity between numerous stationary or mobile environments and clients.

Cisco Aironet 1400 Series wireless bridges provide fast, reliable outdoor bridging for line-of-sight environments. These devices are housed in a ruggedized cover that is optimized for harsh outdoor conditions and function in broad temperature ranges.

Legacy Cisco Wireless Network Controllers
Cisco WLAN Controllers centralize the management of WLANs by simplifying the handling of common functions such as integrated IPS, fast RF management, automatic configuration, and N+1 redundancy. Wireless LAN controllers work with small APs to offer superior performance and advanced management capabilities.

WLAN Controllers offer the control, scalability, protection, and fault tolerance that system managers require to create safe, enterprise-scale wireless networks, from branch offices to small companies to main campuses. Cisco's legacy Wireless Network Controllers can be configured together to provide accommodation for as many as 2400 access points per roaming domain.

Cisco's WLCM or WLCM-E Controller Module for IS Routers provides small-to medium businesses and large corporations an economical way to implement and control secure wireless networks at branch locations. These devices supervise as many as twelve Cisco APs and are supported on Cisco 2800/3800 Series Integrated Services Routers and 3700 Series Integrated Services Routers. (To learn concerning Progent's online and onsite consulting services for Cisco routers, see Cisco router deployment and management support.)

How Progent's Consultants Can Assist You with Cisco Wireless Products
Progent can provide access to a Cisco-certified expert to help you to plan, install, manage and troubleshoot a converged wired/wireless ecosystem integrating a wide range of wireless products that provide the same protection, scalability, and manageability you demand from your wired network. Progent can assist you to manage early-generation Wi-Fi solutions from Cisco or upgrade seamlessly to current 802.11ac-comaptible products. Progent's CISA and ISSAP security consultants can show you how to build security into your wireless network and your company's operations. Progent's disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity consultants can show you how to configure the high availability (HA) technology incorporated into Cisco's wireless and wired products so your converged infrastructure delivers significant business value.

Progent’s Wi-Fi Site Survey assists you to plan and deploy a robust WLAN customized for your environment, offering a Wi-Fi ecosystem that delivers seamless coverage, high speed and capacity, QoS features to support IP video, advanced security and compliance, and simplified management. Progent's Wireless Site Survey can be performed remotely to reduce time and expense, or onsite for more challenging facilities.

For a more in-depth look at Progent's wireless consulting services, visit Progent's Wireless Network Support Services.

For additional information concerning Progent's engineering support for Cisco technology, pick a topic:

• Introduction to Progent's Cisco Network Support
• Fast Online Access to a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Engineer
• Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewalls: Configuration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• ASA 5500-X Firewalls with Firepower: Configuration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewall Integration Expertise
• PIX 500 Series Firewall Upgrade. Migration Expertise
• Cisco Routers Consulting Expertise
• Aironet APs Design Support
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Wireless Access Points Consulting Services
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Integration Consulting
• Meraki APs Deployment Support
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and CallManager Integration and Technical Support
• Cisco Voice over IP (VoIP) Phones and IP Video Phones Expertise and Wireless VoIP Phone Integration
• Cisco Jabber and Management Services
• Catalyst Switches Deployment Expertise
• Nexus Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Meraki Switches Consulting and Support Services
• Cisco Security and VPN Engineering Expertise
• SIP and CUBE Infrastructure Solutions: SIP PSTN Trunks and CUBE Integration Expertise
• Design Expertise for Cisco-based Datacenters
• Network Optimization Services for Internet Service Providers
• Centralized Network Management Techniques for Cisco-powered Environments