Motorola Solutions’ WiNG 5 Wireless Lan Architecture Outperforms Traditional Approaches

June 7, 2011 - PRLog -- Tolly, the industry’s premier independent testing and strategic consulting organization, recently released a new report that benchmarks traditional hub-and-spoke 802.11n wireless LAN (WLAN) architectures from Cisco and another leading vendor against the WiNG 5 802.11n WLAN architecture from Motorola Solutions, Inc..

Conducted in April 2011, Tolly’s analysis evaluated three enterprise WLAN solutions, each including an enterprise WLAN controller and access points (APs). Two of these solutions also provided an alternative WLAN controller suitable for providing integrated services (LAN/WAN/WLAN) at branch office locations. Testing of these solutions included bandwidth efficiency, system performance, functionality, site survivability and scalability.

Testing confirmed that Motorola’s WiNG 5 APs could provide full functionality and, thus, site survivability to local WLAN clients when the network connection to the system controller was unavailable. This contrasted with the traditional hub-and-spoke solutions from Cisco and the other tested vendor where loss of the controller connection results in loss of significant functionality such as stateful firewall enforcement, client roaming and authentication as well as RF interference remediation.

“Wireless networks have become the default access method as enterprises mobilize their workforces,” says Kevin Tolly, founder of The Tolly Group. “As distributed organizations introduce more mobile applications and services to increase productivity, it is crucial that their WLANs are architected in a way that ensures business-critical connectivity in all corners of the enterprise, from the headquarters to the branch offices.”

Testers found that the key difference between Motorola’s WiNG 5 architecture and the traditional approaches of Cisco or the other vendor is the level of intelligence localized in the AP. By having the ability to switch traffic and statefully inspect it at Layers 2 and 3 directly from the AP, WiNG 5 ensures that only the traffic destined for the cloud traverses the WAN. With local traffic no longer forced through the controller, performance and scalability of WiNG 5 is unmatched by the other solutions tested.

For the Motorola NX 9000 controller platform, Tolly witnessed an active test bed consisting of 10,201 software-emulated APs in 4,001 RF domains with 117,360 active clients connected. The results were compared against Cisco’s claims of supporting 512 managed APs and 7,000 clients and the other vendor’s claims of supporting 4,096 APs and up to 32,768 connected clients.

Among the report’s key findings, the WiNG 5 solution delivered unique differentiation in the following areas in comparison to the other solutions tested:

* Provided significantly greater distributed functionality with authentication, local bridging, fast roaming, firewall enforcement and RF interference remediation at the AP as well as resiliency of these services when communication to the controller was lost.
* Demonstrated site and services survivability when the link to the controller was removed and also demonstrated controller-less deployment operation.
* Exhibited greater scalability, simulated a deployment of 10,000 APs, 4,000 RF domains and 100, 000 clients – all being managed by a single controller.
* Delivered lower setup and installation times ultimately resulting in lower costs.
In summary, the testing concluded that Motorola’s portfolio of 802.11n WLAN controllers and APs leveraging the WiNG 5 distributed architecture delivers an infrastructure solution that is more scalable, resource-efficient and robust, while being easier to manage and maintain than traditional hub-and-spoke WLANs from Cisco and the other vendor.

For complete details of the test sponsored by Motorola, download the report for free by linking to:
Motorola WiNG5 Wireless LAN Architecture Advantages: Lab Evaluation vs. Traditional Hub-and-Spoke WLAN Solutions Report

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About The Tolly Group

The Tolly Group, an independent testing and strategic consulting organization based in Boca Raton, FL, offers a full range of services designed to furnish both the vendor and end-user communities with authoritative and unbiased information. Additionally, The Tolly Group is recognized worldwide for its expertise in assessing leading-edge technologies. For more information on The Tolly Group’s services, visit its Web site at: Tolly.com, E-mail info@tolly.com, call (561) 391-5610, or fax (561) 391-5610.