Cisco 526 Wireless Express Mobility Controller:
The Cisco® 526 Wireless Express Mobility
Controller is a network appliance that automatically
optimizes the basic wireless network and supports advanced
mobility services on top of that network. The Cisco
Mobility Express solution brings together the Cisco
526 controller and the Cisco 521 Wireless Express Access
Point as a flexible, cost-effective wireless solution
specifically designed to meet the needs of small and
medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
As your business needs grow, the Cisco Mobility Express
solution (Figure 1) offers the versatility to evolve
and scale from a solid mobile foundation delivering
business-grade wireless features to a sophisticated
yet cost-effective wireless network capable of supporting
leading mobility services and applications. Mobility
Express is part of the Cisco Smart Business Communications
System - a complete unified communications solution
for SMBs that provides voice, data, video, security,
and wireless capabilities while integrating with existing
desktop applications like calendar, e-mail, and customer
relationship management (CRM).
Cisco Mobility Express Solution
Elements
Cisco Mobility Express solution
elements include the Cisco 526 Wireless Express Mobility
Controller (left),
Cisco Configuration Assistant software (center), and
Cisco 521 Wireless Express Access Point (right).
Cisco 526 Wireless Express Mobility Controller
The Cisco 526 Wireless Express Mobility Controller harnesses
the power of Cisco Lightweight Access Point Protocol
(LWAPP) technology, best-in-class automatic radio optimization,
mobility performance, and multi-access-point management.
On top of the basic transport layer, the controller
supports Cisco Secure Guest Access and Voice-over-WLAN
advanced mobility services. As part of the Smart Business
Communications System, this controller is managed by
the Cisco Configuration Assistant, easing deployment
and decreasing the cost of ongoing maintenance. A single
Cisco 526 controller supports up to six Cisco 521 access
points and up to two controllers can be deployed per
network, delivering the capacity, simplicity, and price
point appropriate for the SMB.
Figure 2. Easy Configuration
of Secure Guest Access
Cisco Mobility Express Solution:
A business-grade, affordable mobility solution for
small and medium-sized businesses with up to 250 employees.
Executive Summary
This document presents the Cisco® Mobility
Express Solution, including its components and how it
integrates with the Cisco Smart Business Communications
System. A description of the solution's features and
associated benefits will help readers choose a mobility
solution that fits their needs.
Challenge
With the business pace accelerating, small and medium-sized
businesses (SMBs) should now more than ever take advantage
of advances in technology to stay competitive and rapidly
navigate market changes. Deploying a wireless network
increases customer responsiveness, as well as collaboration
within the company and with business partners; in other
words, it improves a company's business agility.
Figure 1. Mobility for SMBs
The Cisco Mobility Express Solution delivers best-in-class
wireless capabilities that until recently had been reserved
for enterprises. The solution is sold at a premium accessible
to SMB customers seeking to gain a competitive edge
without having to compromise between price and sophistication.
SMBs now have an alternative to consumer-grade products
and can benefit from the latest enterprise-class services
available over Wi-Fi.
The Cisco Mobility Express Solution smoothly integrates
with a wired infrastructure. Its Radio Resource Management
feature delivers self-configuration, self-optimization,
and self- healing, minimizing manual management. Businesses
can offer wireless guest access and use voice over Wi-Fi
without the need for RF expertise or additional IT resources.
Using Smart Business Communications System management
tools, the Cisco Mobility Express Solution offers a
friendly user interface for configuration. As customers
upgrade or evolve their networks, the introduction of
new routing, switching, security or unified communications
solutions will be greatly simplified.
Why should you deploy wireless?
Business tools and usage patterns have dramatically
changed over the past two decades. Multitask devices
are now common, and offer more memory and processing
power to run real-time applications such as e-mail or
instant messaging. Employees, business partners, and
customers expect instant answers. While businesses need
to provide services 24/7, they are also expected to
offer more flexibility to their employees when it comes
to working hours. In addition, the complexity of tasks
requires a broader set of skills than in the past. Working
in teams, sometimes virtual ones, is increasingly necessary.
Mobility solutions help companies to better navigate
this complex and fast-moving environment by empowering
users with the right device or application at the right
time and at the right place, and by facilitating collaboration
and business interactions. Companies are now considering
deploying wireless technologies as part of their business
strategy. Today, more than 50 percent of companies use
mobility-enabling technologies such as WLANs, and the
sales of laptops outpaced desktop sales in 2005.
Figure 2 shows the evolution in business tools and
usage patterns over the past decades.
Figure 2. Evolution in Business Tools and Usage
Patterns
Responsiveness and agility
Unlike large global companies, the competitive advantage
of an SMB is often being local. SMBs can offer unmatched
service to their customers or deliver unique customized
products, while collaborating with business partners
to better share each others' competitive advantage.
Delivering such quality is time-consuming and has
a high cost. A shift in market demand or a misalignment
with business partners can quickly have significant
financial consequences and can affect customer loyalty.
Deploying a wireless network in a business environment
enables the workforce to have real-time access to business-critical
information, such as inventory or e-mail. Access to
timely information empowers employees, allowing them
to make faster and better decisions. It also means being
more responsive to customers and turning over more deals
in a shorter period of time.
A wireless network also increases business advantages;
for example, reducing the cost of a company's cell phone
bills by supporting voice over Wi-Fi, or increasing
the satisfaction and efficiency of business partners
or customers visiting your facilities by providing Internet
access without compromising network integrity or requiring
IT support.
Retain and attract talent
Studies show that in skilled and semi-skilled jobs,
the full cost of replacing a worker is typically 1.5
to 2.5 times the worker's annual salary. Because of
company size, SMBs must use their resources-especially
their human resources-in the most efficient way; their
employees are the foundation of the company's success.
The new workforce generation is more tech-savvy than
the previous generations. They are highly familiar with
wireless access and expect it from their employers.
Loyalty from these workers is also more difficult to
gain; offering them the flexibility to work when and
where they want is key to their satisfaction.
Set the stage for new opportunities
Deploying a mobility solution gives SMBs the opportunity
to be more proactive developing innovative ways to serve
their customers and create value. For instance, the
way of taking or placing orders can be streamlined to
reduce cost, but also to allow employees to spend more
time developing new revenues streams, increasing the
customer market base, or recruiting new business partners.
Benefits of the Cisco Mobility Express Solution
Ease of use
The Cisco Mobility Express Solution is easy to deploy,
use, and maintain. The friendly interface offered by
the Cisco Configuration Assistant and the automated
Radio Resources Management tool makes it comparable
to having an "RF-expert-in-a-box". No additional IT
staff or RF expertise is required. The network configures
the access points automatically to avoid interferences
or coverage gaps while maximizing the bandwidth available.
If it detects an access point failure or a point of
interference, it will immediately take action tuning
the radio power or frequency of surrounding access points
to compensate and maintain business continuity without
impacting the devices connected to the wireless network.
Cost-effectiveness and investment protection
The Cisco Mobility Express Solution is ideal for SMBs
that do not want to compromise between sophistication
and price. It offers affordable, business-class features
such as security, scalability, and reliability. The
solution also offers the assurance that, unlike consumer-grade
products, your wireless network will evolve with your
needs over time, by being capable of adding more mobile
applications and benefiting from the latest innovations.
Figure 3 shows the staged approach that the Cisco
Mobility Express Solution offers to evolve with the
company needs
Figure 3. Staged Approach of the Cisco Mobility
Express Solution
Security
Protecting customer information is crucial for SMBs,
where reputation and customer retention is directly
associated with future revenues and stable growth. But
aligning increasingly stringent regulations is costly,
and noncompliance can sometimes result in the closure
of a business. The Cisco Mobility Express Solution helps
SMBs proactively avoid these risks. It supports a wide
range of security architectures by including all the
latest Wi-Fi standards and many identity-based authentication
options. The security infrastructure allows for advanced
secure guest access, providing business partners such
as customers, contractors, or suppliers with wireless
access to the Internet while safely segregating their
traffic from the corporate intranet.
Scalability
Unlike most consumer-grade products, the centralized
management of the Cisco Mobility Express Solution and
its self-configuration, self-optimization, and self-healing
features allow you to expand your network in total simplicity
and with minimum business disruption. Instead of manually
configuring access points one by one, a simple change
in the Cisco Configuration Assistant will update your
network policies; adding another access point is "plug
and play".
Reliability
The Cisco Mobility Express Solution delivers reliability
through multiple means. Radio Resource Management optimizes
the radio settings of each access point in real time
to present maximum bandwidth and coverage of the entire
WLAN. If an access point goes down, a source of interference
comes up, or traffic density shifts over the course
of the day, the Cisco Mobility Express Solution re-works
the radio plan in real time to compensate. Mobility
Management enables a voice over Wi-Fi call or a wireless
connection to be maintained while roaming from one access
point to another, without the need to re-authenticate
or re-launch the applications. The network can be designed
to allow a high level of redundancy when needed. Finally,
the advanced Cisco testing and validation that the solution
has to comply with is a proven label of quality.
Integration with the Smart Business Communications
System
The Cisco Smart Business Communications System is a
suite of Cisco products designed for SMBs and managed
by a common user-friendly tool.
Customers that have non-wireless Smart Business Communications
System solutions, such as switching, or unified communications,
can quickly and easily add the Cisco Mobility Express
Solution to help ensure a complete integration between
the wired and wireless networks.
For customers that start with the Cisco Mobility
Express Solution, other elements can be added over time
as needed. Using the same interface reduces the need
for IT staff training and helps avoid the time-consuming
maintenance of separate wired and wireless networks.
Solution
Figure 4. The Cisco Mobility Express Solution
The Cisco Mobility Express solution comprises access
points, mobility controllers, and a configuration assistant:
- The Cisco Wireless Express Access Point: The
access points can be deployed in two modes: standalone
or controller-based.
- Standalone mode: Up to 3 access points can
be deployed to provide wireless connectivity
between the devices and the rest of the network.
In this configuration, the access points have
to be managed individually through the Cisco
Configuration Assistant.
- Controller-based mode: Up to 12 access points
(6 per wireless LAN controller) can be deployed
and become multifunctional. In addition to offering
connectivity, the access points now monitor
all wireless activities and report them to the
controllers. In this configuration, they can
all be managed simultaneously through the Cisco
Configuration Assistant.
- The Cisco Wireless Express Mobility Controller:
The mobility controller is the "RF expert" of the
system. It has a complete view of the wireless network.
Based on the information received from the access
points, the mobility controller can automatically
and dynamically manage the access points to reduce
interferences, avoid coverage gaps, and more.
- The Cisco Configuration Assistant: To simplify
management, the Cisco Configuration Assistant is
used to configure the entire Smart Business Communications
System portfolio, including Cisco Wireless Express
Mobility Controllers and Access Points.
The Cisco Mobility Express Solution is designed to
evolve with customer needs over time. For a cost-effective
first solution, customers can start by deploying access
points in standalone mode, and reap the benefits of
wireless connectivity. As their business grows and the
need for a larger coverage arises, or as they want simpler
management for an optimized radio network, the controller-based
architecture can be deployed. Finally, as wireless becomes
an integral part of the business strategy with mobility
services such as voice over Wi-Fi or guest access, an
application-based architecture can be implemented to
run more sophisticated mobile applications.
Figure 5 shows the Cisco Mobility Express Solution
architectures associated with the different needs of
businesses.
Figure 5. Cisco Mobility Express Solution Architectures
Why Cisco?
Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking technologies,
with a 20-year track record supporting customers of
all sizes, around the globe. By working with the established
industry leader, municipalities and businesses can benefit
from:
- More than two decades of experience building
large-scale routing and RF networks
- Proven performance, reliability, and security
with more than 3 million access points deployed
and more than 128,000 customers worldwide
- A broad range of technical experts and engineers
who understand the unique requirements of business
customers
- Award-winning customer support services that
help companies get the most out of their investments
and extend the life of their network assets
- Ongoing investments in R&D initiatives
- Sustained value with upgradeable, standards-based
solutions
- A phased approach to support the integration
of new technologies or respond to new government
mandates or regulations
- A global partnership with 200,000 worldwide
partners, 4000 specialization badges, and best practices
sharing
Cisco
526 Wireless Express Mobility Controller
