The open and disaggregated movement, pioneered by OpenRAN, has become a well-known concept. It is driven by the principles of opening mobile networks to a broader range of suppliers and disaggregating software from hardware components in the network. These are the same principles that are behind OpenWiFi, a wireless solution that is transforming enterprise-grade connectivity using unlicensed spectrum. Within two short years since it debuted, OpenWiFi has been used in deployments around the world and for many use cases including MDUs, the hospitality industry, sports stadiums, commercial real estate and public spaces.
So, let’s take a look at why there’s a need for OpenWiFi, what it is and the benefits it can deliver.
The traditional enterprise Wi-Fi network
Enterprise Wi-Fi typically consists of hundreds of enterprise-grade access points (APs) across a wireless local area network (WLAN) infrastructure. Like the monopoly in the mobile world, dominated by Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson, enterprises typically turn to three providers – Cisco, Ruckus (a CommScope business) and Aruba (an HPE business).
Setting up and managing an enterprise Wi-Fi network is a complex undertaking. This is why most large enterprises will use the support of a systems integrator and planning tools to help build the network; helping them decide where APs should be installed to optimize the network and deliver the best performance to users.
Most enterprises will have similar WLAN configurations across numerous locations, either in a single country of operation or globally. This infrastructure is managed by a Wi-Fi controller, otherwise known as a wireless LAN controller (WLC), which can be hosted privately or in the cloud. It provides the ability to control and optimize the performance of individual or groups of APs, create security protocols and troubleshoot and analyze the network’s performance. A single controller can manage an international network of WLANs and thousands of APs across disparate offices in a region, or even across the globe.
The traditional model involves enterprises using a controller and APs from the same original equipment manufacturer (OEM). So, once a network is deployed, an enterprise has to use the same components from the OEM every time they want to scale the network or roll out new features, creating vendor lock-in.
This is great if you are the vendor providing the Access Points and controllers. But when there is a supply chain crisis and chip shortage as we’ve just experienced, it becomes difficult to source new technology. Only being able to use one supplier is very prohibitive. That’s why the OpenWiFi movement was created.
OpenWiFi, the open-source community and the OpenWiFi Movement
To provide greater control and customization over residential gateways (routers), an open-source initiative was created called OpenWRT. It is a Linux-based system that allows users to replace the original firmware on their gateways with firmware developed by the OpenWRT wireless community. Almost all gateways include Wi-Fi functionality, and OpenWRT was extended to provide and support Wi-Fi services and features.
OpenWRT has been widely adopted by most Wi-Fi original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), who customize it with their branding and enable or disable functionality based on the target market and user of the gateway. OpenWRT opens up Wi-Fi gateways to a bigger pool of software innovation and talent, and a new movement taking place around the world. The OpenWiFi Movement.
OpenWiFi takes the OpenWRT methodology into the enterprise, opening the software on a gateway or AP and disaggregating the software across the Wi-Fi controllers. OpenWiFi offers a centralized approach to making available Enterprise-grade Wi-Fi technology, enabling software and firmware updates to be adopted by any user of OpenWiFi that can improve the capabilities of both the Wi-Fi controller and the APs.
OpenWiFi and vendor diversity
OpenWiFi and its active participant community enable enterprises to build Wi-Fi networks that use a mixture of technology vendors, not just one of the big three manufacturers. It is creating a lane for new agile and innovative brands to offer enterprise-grade Wi-Fi technology with enterprise-grade features, but at a more competitive price and supporting a faster introduction of both standard and unique features.
Enterprises have often been beholden to using APs based on the timescales, cost and availability of products that their manufacturer of choice can deliver. But they can now access a much wider pool of the market to fulfill their requirements and take advantage of some of the unique features that vendors offer. They can pay for bespoke features and customizations to have quicker delivery, or lobby the community to build that feature that can be made available to all. All of this great work is taking place in the TIP OpenWiFi Project Group, that I lead. I invite everyone to join the OpenWiFi Project Group. Not only does this provide vendor diversity but it also provides diversity of thought and new ideas to the OpenWiFi Movement.
Using this mix-and-match approach to building networks can save enterprises between 25-50% of the costs associated with purchasing and running the technology exclusively from one of the ‘big three’. Enterprise network deployments will have a variety of choices, with some vendors allowing for easy integration within existing WLAN infrastructure.
Community-driven innovation
OpenWiFi offers a community-based approach that gives enterprises and systems integrators access to the giant pool of open-source developers working within the OpenWiFi and OpenWRT community. Enterprises can benefit from the continuous cycle of updates that are created within the OpenWiFi community, including monitoring and analytics features, security and authentication, and AP management. Users of OpenWiFi can also make changes that are kept private and not made available to the broader community. This approach advocates for and actively encourages commercial entities to focus on the things that differentiate and give them a competitive advantage, rather than the base software and features common to all.
OpenWiFi can handle the large-scale requirements of enterprises across the globe. It can transform the capabilities of the networks that systems integrators can offer their enterprise customers, offering comprehensive and feature-rich solutions at a lower cost than traditional approaches. OpenWiFi is bringing more vendors into the community with an innovation-first mindset or as we like to say, OpenWiFi is open for business. If you haven’t joined the community already, now’s the time!Â
