What do you need to consider when choosing a Wi-Fi traffic shaping solution for WLAN management?

1 Your network goals and needs

Before you start looking for a Wi-Fi traffic shaping solution, you need to define your network goals and needs. What are the main applications and services that run on your network? How many users and devices do you have? What are their expectations and requirements? How much bandwidth do you have available and how do you want to allocate it? How do you monitor and troubleshoot your network performance? These questions will help you identify the features and functions that you need from a wifi traffic shaping solution.

2 Your network architecture and topology

Another factor to consider is your network architecture and topology. How is your WLAN designed and deployed? How many access points, controllers, switches, and routers do you have? How are they connected and configured? How do you segment and secure your network? How do you handle roaming and load balancing? These aspects will affect how you implement and manage your wifi traffic shaping solution. You need to choose a solution that is compatible and scalable with your network infrastructure and devices.

3 Your network policies and rules

The next factor to consider is your network policies and rules. How do you want to classify and prioritize your Wi-Fi traffic? What are the criteria and conditions that you use to apply different actions and treatments? How do you enforce and update your policies and rules? How do you handle exceptions and conflicts? These issues will determine how you configure and customize your wifi traffic shaping solution. Choosing a solution that is flexible and powerful enough to support your network policies and rules is critical.

4 Your network visibility and analytics

You need to consider your network visibility and analytics. How do you measure and evaluate your Wi-Fi traffic shaping results and what are the metrics and indicators that you use to track and optimize your network performance? How do you collect and analyze your network data? How do you report and communicate your network insights? These questions will influence how you use and benefit from your wifi traffic shaping solution. You need to choose a solution that is comprehensive and intelligent enough to provide you with network visibility and analytics.

5 Your network costs

The last factor to consider is your network costs. How much do you want to spend on your Wi-Fi traffic shaping solution? What are the upfront and ongoing expenses that you need to consider? How do you balance your network quality and efficiency with your network budget and ROI? How much time and effort do you need to invest in your wifi traffic shaping solution? And finally, how do you train and support your network staff and users? These factors will affect how you select and deploy your Wi-Fi traffic shaping solution. You need to choose a solution that is affordable and manageable.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?