Head in the clouds

If your internal network already has its own issues then you may be understandably hesitant to layer Wi-Fi on top of it. This is a major motivation – but not the only one – behind the growth of cloud-based Wi-Fi systems, where the base stations are managed by a third-party service, rather than connecting directly to your internal network.

One such service is Cisco Meraki, which is frequently enthused about by Jon Honeyball. It’s an attractive solution to certain problems, albeit an expensive one. If you want to be sure your wireless infrastructure is up to date with security patches, and you’d like to manage your users while lying beside a sun-dappled swimming pool with your smartphone, this is a superb way to achieve those goals.

All the same, what you’re buying is a relationship. This means annual subscriptions, and a readiness to go where Cisco want you to go. For example, if the company decides that a particular smartphone is an unacceptable security risk, then you’re going to be retiring those phones, whether the risk applies to you or not.

What’s more, it tends to perpetuate underlying issues. Cloud-managed devices can be an excellent convenience if you need to stretch a single Wi-Fi fabric across a large number of branch offices. But the idea of a Wi-Fi “perimeter” was always a hostage to fortune. If there’s some reason why your LAN can’t be used with a less intrusive solution, your first priority should be to get to the bottom of that problem, rather than buying in additional services to sidestep it.