From today’s perspective Wi-Fi access is very important for everyone. The usage of the Internet is enormous and a huge portion of the users are accessing through 802.11 WLAN. These networks are easy to install and are not only suitable for home users but also for big enterprises. The possibility for deployment a stable network in places where wired solutions are difficult for implementation or not so cost-efficient, is one of the reasons for the wide usage of WLAN.
Today’s WLANs are becoming more and more complex and their management and control is getting harder. Bigger enterprise networks are obligated to have centralized management in order to make that management easier and less time-consuming. The element which provides these features is the Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) and the focus of this thesis is mostly on it. The Wireless LAN Controller can be implemented in WLANs on various ways and the possible solutions are examined and discussed in this thesis. We give an overview of existing controller-based architectures, different solutions and platforms used for the control and management of such architectures and our hands-on experience with some of them. Based on their characteristics and features we can point out in which cases they are most suitable.
We can conclude that the WLC with its features is an inevitable element in the design of a modern WLAN. The evolution and development of the software platforms will cause quality solutions without physical controller to become the alternative for smaller or branch organizations, but for bigger enterprises the physical controller will still be a needed element.
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