5G roadblock: labor

Mon Jan 6 23:45:36 UTC 2020

> 
> There are some wi-fi vendors who I know (and am currently testing) that
> have developed very cool centralized management tools for their wi-fi
> AP's, that include very interesting AI logic. It is pricier than a
> simple standalone enterprise-grade AP, or an AP you'll get from down the
> store. But it's still way cheaper than dense 5G deployment.

Depending on what you are after, folk like Ruckus and Cisco have had centrally-managed enterprise WiFi for many years.  I manage a Ruckus installation for an apartment building where there is one SSID from about 150 APs, users have a unique password per apartment, which lands them onto that apartment’s VLAN, regardless of where they are in the building.

Works really well. 

I have seen Ruckus installations like this on university campuses, where users get access to different VLANs depending on who they are (but all use the same SSID).  Cisco have also been doing this for a long, long time (at far higher cost).

Not sure about Cisco, but the Ruckus stuff is also used widely in hotels and caravan parks where folk can buy a “day pass” — a shareable password that is valid for a pre-determined amount of time and will get them onto the wifi anywhere in the facility.  I’ve mostly seen Cisco in hospitals and banks.

In theory this could easily be spread through an entire suburb using outdoor APs.

	paul