Wireless Solutions and Services

FOSS is a well-established multidisciplinary systems integrator. Operating in the Middle East since 1999 we have developed a broad capability to design, implement and support business critical IT and networking solutions.

Customer requirements for wireless solutions have risen exponentially in recent years across the globe due to increased demand in wireless connectivity. Wireless technologies have evolved to simplify business operations. Industries now employ machine to machine services to streamline several aspects of their business processes.

Wireless Solutions

• Controllers

Contemporary WLANs use 802.11ac (Wi-Fi) technology to deliver high-speed access to business systems throughout buildings, campuses or an entire enterprise. In many locations, WLANs have started to replace wired Ethernet as the primary access method for both mobile and fixed client devices.

Enterprise WLAN products sold by market leaders all use WLAN Controllers to supervise access points (APs) deployed throughout coverage areas.  FOSS collaborates with leading manufacturers of controllers.

Partners: Ruckus, Cisco, Aruba, Extreme Networks

• Virtual Controllers

By offloading controller responsibilities from the hardware layer to a software module, the virtual controller achieves two goals. First, it lowers traffic on the physical controller to avoid bottlenecks, and it also provides for controller portability so it can follow cloud-based and virtual resources wherever they are provisioned.

Partners: Ruckus, Cisco

• Controller-less Wireless LAN Solution

Controller-less access points have been the next breakthrough recently in wireless technology. Multiple APs can still be managed from one interface without the addition of a physical rack-mounted controller. This is a perfect option for when physical WLAN controllers are out of budget.

Partners: Ruckus, Cisco

• Access Points

Access points act as a central transmitter and receiver of wireless radio signals. Mainstream wireless APs support Wi-Fi and are most commonly used to support public Internet hotspots and other business networks where larger buildings and spaces need wireless coverage. FOSS collaborates with leading manufacturers of APs.

Partners: Ruckus, Cisco, Aruba, Extreme Networks

• Cloud

Enterprises of all scales are looking for a more efficient alternative to buying, maintaining and upgrading hardware appliances at dozens or hundreds of locations that have little or no on-site IT presence. Integrated as a subscription-based service, cloud-managed wireless isn’t the right model for every enterprise. But for those that fit the profile, it can help bring large-scale, enterprise-grade wireless to locations traditional networking couldn’t serve.

Partners:  Ruckus, Cisco Meraki

• BYOD

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is the increasing trend toward employee-owned devices within a business. Moreover, educational institutions have permeated BYOD as well. Together with our premium partners we help organisations implement a BYOD security policy to help IT better manage these devices and ensure network security is not compromised by people using their own devices at work/school.

Partners: Cisco, Ruckus, Purple, Ucopia

• Analytics

In case of a Wi-Fi network with hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of access points (APs), it is important to keep on top of a wide range of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) associated with tens or hundreds of terabytes of data traffic that cross the network every day. Analytics software automatically collects data from across the network and generates reports based on established profiles and policies with data granularity- at 15-minute, 1-hour, or 24-hour increments.

Partners: Cisco CMX, Ruckus, Purple WiFi, Ucopia

• Guest Management

Creating a separate network for guests provides Internet access to guests’ wireless devices. By segregating the network in this manner, one can control who has access to a company’s network of computers, servers, storage appliances, printers. At the same time, instead of allocating guests the same priority in bandwidth, it makes sense to restrict the guest network to a speed that offers reasonable access without affecting the network performance available to your employees.

Partners: Ucopia, Cisco, Purple WiFi, Ruckus

• Zero Configuration 

Zero Configuration Networking makes connecting easy with no prior installation and no tech support needed for the network users. The goal of the Zero Configuration Networking (Zeroconf) is to enable networking in the absence of configuration and administration. Zero configuration networking is required for environments where administration is impractical or impossible.

Partners: Ucopia, Cisco, Purple WiFi, Ruckus

• Location-Based Services

Location-Based Services (LBS) Solution enables retailers, stadiums, and transportation hubs to enhance the way they interact with customers based on precise location. Deployed on top of smart WiFi, the LBS Solution does not require any additional hardware and has unlimited scalability in the cloud. LBS allows sending in real-time travel updates, targeted promotions, and even classroom notes through footfall traffic and proximity analytics to enrich customer relationships.

Partners: Ruckus, Cisco

• Secure Onboarding

Use a single point of entry to onboard practically any user-owned device, for any BYOD scenario—employees, students, partners or guests. With certificate-based onboarding, secure access is linked to the device, not just a user account. Thus, people can onboard once and then automatically reconnect in the future—without having to constantly re-enter credentials.

Partners: Ruckus Cloudpath

• Network Access Control

Network Access Control (NAC) solutions allow to authenticate wired, wireless, and VPN users and devices to the network; evaluate and remediate a device for policy compliance before permitting access to the network; differentiate access based on roles; and then audit and report on who is on the network.

Partners: Cisco (ISE)

• Wireless Intrusion Prevention System

A wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) is a dedicated security device or integrated software application that monitors a wireless LAN network’s radio spectrum for rogue access points and other wireless threats. A WIPS compares the MAC addresses of all wireless access points on a network against the known signatures of pre-authorized, known wireless access points and alerts an administrator when a discrepancy is found.

Partners: Cisco, Ruckus

• Smart Cities

Smart cities revolve around the idea of using new, connective technologies to make urban living more efficient, cost-effective and, in the cases of many, more environmentally friendly.  Everything from smart LED lighting systems which save power to expanding internet access and promoting renewable energy use through electric vehicle (EV) driving schemes are emerging worldwide, supported through the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, sensors, and big data analytics. Our partners are leaders in providing Smart City technologies and full turnkey solutions.

Partners: Ruckus, Cisco, Purple, Ucopia

• Public Venues 

Large public venues usually translate into a large number of attendees, which is another factor to consider when planning WiFi layout at such a location. It is necessary to focus on high capacity equipment to make sure not only that the signal strength of the network is appropriate, but that it can sustain the type of expected traffic. Due to the flexibility and infinite configurations of a typical large public venue, it is critical that the wireless solution provides the same flexibility.

Partners: Ruckus, Cisco

• Hotspot

Most wireless users prefer to connect to Wi-Fi whenever they can, but they have to work for it—finding and selecting the right network, entering a password, logging on through a portal. With a hotspot all that goes away.

Partners: Ruckus , Cisco

• Monetize and Engage 

Engage users through content push and monetize your Wi-Fi infrastructure. Transforming Wi-Fi from expense to revenue generator is now a real and exciting possibility for all businesses. Through powerful data collection capabilities, businesses can send targeted marketing offers and push-advertising to user devices, use Wi-Fi data to better understand customers’ needs and create statistics with in-depth social and marketing action-based data tracking.

Partners: Ucopia

• Mesh networks

As a technology, mesh networking has been around for a long time, mostly used by the military, hospitals, and for large scale commercial applications. Wi-Fi mesh networking is new in the consumer space, but the technology works essentially the same way. It includes several routers, called nodes, which essentially act like satellites for the Wi-Fi network.

Partners: Ruckus and Cisco

• Point to Point

Point to point networks are used to connect one location to one other location through line of sight (LOS), operating in unlicensed/licensed radio frequencies or through free space optics with speeds available between 100mbps to 10Gbps.

Partners: Cambium, FastBack networks, Ruckus Wireless, Mimosa