When Roaming Around Is A Good Thing

It’s no revelation to say that residential wireless networks are taking off in popularity, and that larger-scale networks are being installed in a growing number of homes. These days, smart homes can mean opportunity for smart dealers.

A fundamental consideration for installers to be aware of is that wireless LAN (local area networks) that cover a large area, such as those in larger homes or businesses, require multiple wireless access points to achieve adequate coverage. (A single wireless access point, or WAP, has limited range.) However, with most wireless installations, when a person using a WiFi device moves from the coverage area or “cell” of one WAP to another, there is typically an interruption in service as one WAP “hands off” to another.

This wasn’t such a big deal even a couple of years or so ago when most homeowners just wanted WiFi Internet access for their laptops. But today people want to walk around from room to room with their smartphone, iPad or mobile device, and if a VoIP phone call or video gets interrupted, it isn’t much fun.

Also, the touch panels used for controlling the devices in a home network need to send out a steady stream of uninterrupted commands, without delays – or the devices will not respond as intended.

Most wireless installations use “microcell” devices, where each WAP has a small coverage area and is set to a different channel, resulting in many handoffs from one end of the system to another. A better WiFi deployment uses “macrocell” WAPs with a larger coverage area – better and more cost-effective, but still not optimal.

So, what can a dealer do to ensure that customers who want large wireless networks will enjoy glitch-free roaming?

An effective solution is Virtual Cell Technology from Pakedge. Virtual Cell Technology allows multiple wireless access points to function as a single “virtual” WAP and enables seamless Wi Fi roaming.

This is accomplished by using a device such as the Pakedge WAP-W5N wireless access point and its companion CTL-W5N wireless virtualization management controller. They tie the operation of all the wireless access points in a network together so that the WAPs all appear as a single wireless access point to a device (client) such as a laptop, iPad, touch panel or a VoIP phone.

In a Virtual Cell Technology installation, a single dedicated Virtual WAP is created for each client on the network. This dedicated WAP can be personalized to the client around speed and bandwidth, to optimize the performance of the applications the device needs to run.

The client device always “sees” a single WAP and never has to initiate a handoff as in other Wi Fi systems. Most importantly: your customer always enjoys uninterrupted WiFi from any location in their home or business.

Pakedge is dedicated to making life easier for systems integrators and customers. The WAP-W5N is preconfigured to work with Pakedge routers and switchers, and is designed for easy installation and setup.

This article provides a brief overview of Pakedge Virtual Cell Technology but limited space precludes a more technical discussion. Read a detailed white paper on the issues relating to wireless networks benefits of Virtual Cell Technology.

Learn more about the product at Pakedge.com.