Cloud connectivity, virtual mobility, and communications solutions provider ADTRAN Inc. has announced a new capability of its Bluesocket virtual Wireless LAN (vWLAN) solution. Leveraging the flexible control capabilities of vWLAN, ADTRAN is now able to provide service providers and value-added resellers (VARs) with multiple customer-premise equipment deployment options, including resale, managed and cloud-hosted services.
The options enable service providers and VARs to creates profit-rich, cloud-based Wi-Fi service offerings. With the ADTRAN Bluesocket solution deployed, service providers can cost-effectively scale to support hundreds of customer WLANs, offering a cloud-based WLAN service without the expense of placing a hardware controller on the customer’s site.
“Today, many service providers offer a managed WLAN service using a premises-based hardware controller,” states an ADTRAN press release submitted to Channelpro-SMB.
ADTRAN goes on to say the controller increases the cost of the service and imposes operational constraints. “Our software-based vWLAN solution utilizes virtualization and allows the controller to be based at the service provider’s network operations center while the data sessions remain at the end-user’s LAN, thus avoiding the need to backhaul user traffic,” the company states.
vWLAN also has the capability to transition between deployment models without service interruption, giving a service provider an ability to meet the demands of changing SMB needs. vWLAN’s centralized control and management can change simply from the end-user premises to the service provider’s NOC. This transition can be done in the middle of the business day with no interruption in any of the live data sessions.
“ADTRAN’s vWLAN solution is optimal for service providers since it offers software-based, virtualized control, and management that is centrally located at their network operations center,” says Mads Lillelund, ADTRAN’S general manager, Bluesocket Business Group. “Even better, service providers have the flexibility to sell the vWLAN solution as part of a resale, managed or cloud service. vWLAN as a cloud-based service opens up new opportunities for service providers in a highly competitive market.”
