Extreme Networks advances mobile scalability

In today’s Experience Economy, user expectations for fast and seamless access are not confined to indoor spaces. As users demand much more in the scale and scope of their mobile connectivity, Wi-Fi networks must evolve to address much higher capacity and scale as traffic grows. IdentiFi uniquely delivers the capacity and ease-of-use demanded by IT and mobile users, both indoors and outdoors.

As BYOD continues to evolve, the number of mobile devices and the diversity of those products attaching to the Wi-Fi network will continue to grow rapidly. For example, IDC reported a 317 percent increase in wearable shipments in 2013, and shipments are expected to reach 111.9 million units by 2018, with a CAGR of 78.4 percent over the next five years.

“BYOD will extend to wearable devices, and the resulting increase in demand will heavily impact wireless LANs everywhere,” said Craig Mathias, a principal with the mobile and wireless advisory firm Farpoint Group. “As a result, non-disruptive wireless LAN scalability must be one of the top considerations in the WLAN evaluation process.”

“As proven in the most demanding venues, including NFL stadiums and sports arenas, IdentiFi wireless delivers more applications and throughput to users with fewer access points,” said Ed Carney, EVP of product and customer success for Extreme Networks. “With the addition of our new outdoor ac products, Extreme offers market-leading scale and performance for big, outdoor venues as well as a variety of other complex enterprises.”

“In a community, such as Troy, that strongly values public education, it is imperative to provide the best resources available to prepare our students for their future,” said Mark Washington, director of technology at Troy School District in Michigan. “Wireless access is no exception. With more than twenty schools throughout our district, there was a real need for a Wi-Fi solution that addressed the challenge of scalability, as traffic growth has been tremendous. Extreme Networks’ IdentiFi Wireless solution enabled us to face these challenges head on, and provides our staff and students with an outstanding smart Wi-Fi solution and the tools that they need to succeed.”

Bart’s Health is the largest NHS Trust in the United Kingdom serving a population of 2.5 million in east London and beyond. Working with its integration partner, Netconnection Systems, the Trust has deployed over 2,000 wireless access points, including Extreme Networks’ latest IdentiFi 802.11ac solution.

Commenting on the benefits, Jason Bincalar, deputy director of ICT at Bart’s Health said: “We have a large number of mission-critical devices on our high-density wireless network, including workstations on wheels, mobile image intensifiers, blood dispensing fridges, handheld devices and VoIP cordless telephone handsets. These are in addition to the computers, tablets and smartphones you’d expect. Our wireless infrastructure needs to meet the demands of all our users, including hospital staff, patients and visitors, and IdentiFi’s proven performance capability and adaptable architecture enables us to do this, delivering a high-functioning ICT network for the best patient care and user experience.”

Proven Products and Capabilities
· Extreme Networks is used in a diversity of environments, such as working with the National Football League (NFL), where over 70,000 users gather in stadiums and watch videos and upload to social media.
· Extreme’s Gigabit Wi-Fi achieves full 802.11ac gigabit speeds and functionality with 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) for the indoor 3825 access point
· The 3865 outdoor AP extends IdentiFi’s high performance capabilities and scale beyond the brick and mortar by offering complete parity for software capabilities and functions found with the indoor solution.
· IdentiFi provides more capacity with three times over-the-air performance compared to 802.11n, and offers greater throughput with air-to-wire transition, supporting 75,000 packets per second for both indoor and outdoor APs.
· IdentiFi makes implementation simple with zero-touch AP initialization and allows new applications and services to be delivered with a single click.