Wave 2 gives you a new way to work with WiFi
As employees and guests return to the workplace and to hospitality and leisure locations, Zyxel’s latest WAC500 series of access points offer the performance and flexibility organisations need, says Patrick Hirscher, EMEA Wireless Market Development Manager at Zyxel.
WiFi is so important for all businesses now and, naturally, you will always want to provide the best possible experience for everyone who connects to your wireless network. And with the changes that are now being applied to meet social / physical distancing rules, it’s even more important to offer a good connection everywhere.
Zyxel’s new WAC500 range of 802.11ac, dual radio, Wave 2 access points are designed to give every user the performance they need, along with the freedom and flexibility to connect wherever they are – in the workplace, in a hotel or guest house, leisure centre, bar or cafe, or any other location where there will be many people joining and using the WiFi throughout the day.
Evolving needs
WAC500 access points also come with NebulaFlex Pro, which means that there are three ways to manage them – as stand-alone units, through another device on the network (such as a Zyxel security gateway), or using our Nebula cloud platform. You can switch between these modes at any time, but for most customers – and for Zyxel MSP partners too – using Nebula remotely will be the best and most convenient way to manage WiFi.
vThese new Wave 2 wireless access points are really designed to meet the evolving needs of business customers. Performance and range are both improved, as is support for higher densities of users. Yet they cost no more than previous Zyxel offerings, so it’s good news all-round. As they come with Wave 2 multi-user MIMO antenna, and make use of dual frequencies, the WAC500 access points will support large numbers of connected devices without any drop-off in performance. They deliver higher throughput and with 1GB Ethernet uplinks, provide enough bandwidth to support full-speed networking.
Something for everyone
There are three products in the range – the WAC500, WAC500H, and the WAC5302v2 – that cover the needs of all kinds of organisations.
The WAC500 offers quad core performance, so it can support more advanced functionality, such as Zyxel’s Wireless Heath technology and support for wireless POS systems. Wireless Health makes use of machine-learning technique to continually re-assess and optimise each device connection and thus ensure the best quality for all users at all times.
POS support makes it ideal for use where there is a requirement for optimised performance for all users, and in busy environments, such as a retail store or restaurant, where tablets or smart devices are used at the point of ordering or sale.
Both the WAC5302v2 and WAC500H can both be wall-mounted and also have a single PoE port. They are ideal for the hospitality and leisure sector as they offer convenient support for IP-based TV and telephony.
Smart connections
The WAC5302v2 comes with smart antenna technology, so it will provide a higher assurance of quality for all connections. It has three Gigabit Ethernet ports. There was – as you may have perceived – a ‘v1’ of this access point, but this did not support Nebula. The new version gives you the option to manage the device any way you wish.
The WAC500H has a protected Ethernet port, which means the connection is locked and thus secured when it is wall-mounted. In addition, with DHCP and NAT support, it is also possible to connect devices directly using Ethernet, which is particularly useful for customers in the hospitality industry.
These three new access points deliver all the added features and support that customers have been asking for – increased performance, advanced functionality, consistent experiences for all users at all times, and great flexibility. They will help customers meet the new challenges that await all organisations as they return to the workplace and adapt to new ways of working together, and the as the hospitality and leisure sectors reopen and start to welcome guests once again.
