Lab Services Help Insurer Compare Wi-Fi 6 Solutions
Challenge
An insurance company wanted to compare two leading Wi-Fi 6 solutions ahead of a lifecycle refresh for their campus wireless network. The insurer already had the manufacturer of one of the solutions in their wireless environment, which made it difficult for the company to perform a product comparison.
Solution
WWT Lab Services designed an environment in its Advanced Technology Center (ATC) that allowed the insurer to objectively compare Wi-Fi 6 solutions from Cisco and Aruba. WWT architects worked with the insurer to normalize requirements based on their use cases and managed interactions with the manufacturers. This process ensured an independent, like-for-like comparison of the solutions. Cisco and Aruba each had two days to demonstrate their solution based on the company's use cases.
Use cases tested in the ATC
- Ease of devices getting onto the network (supplicant entry)
- Ease of authentication
- Effectiveness of hand-offs as devices moved through the network
- Ability to provide critical information about a device's identity and location
- Integration with each manufacturer's solution for network access control
- Ability to support role-based access
- Ease of configuration and provisioning
Devices under test
Cisco
- Catalyst 9120 Access Points
- Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller
- Cisco ISE
Aruba
- Aruba 530 Series Wi-Fi 6 Campus APs
- Aruba 7024 Wireless LAN Controller
- Aruba ClearPass
Results
By leveraging WWT's testing environment, dedicated architects and evaluation methodology, the insurer was able to make an informed decision about their Wi-Fi 6 investment.
In addition to results from the proof of concept, the company received access to the test environment, allowing IT staff to experience the solutions hands on.