Nology, the official distributor of Zyxel in South Africa, has announced the availability of Zyxel’s new NebulaFlex network management platform.
“We’re excited to be adding NebulaFlex to our existing Zyxel portfolio,” says Grant Robertson, product manager at Nology. “NebulaFlex frees traditional standalone wireless Access Points (APs) to be managed in two modes, either cloud-managed or on-premises, giving businesses true flexibility in deployment while reducing extra hardware and software costs.”
Currently supported by three Zyxel wireless access point models, NebulaFlex frees traditional standalone APs to be managed in two modes – either cloud-managed or on-premises, giving businesses true flexibility in deployment while reducing extra hardware and software costs.
Managing standalone access points is straightforward and it fits perfectly in any small-sized area where just a few APs would provide sufficient WiFi coverage. Cloud-managed access points, on the other hand, are easy to install, configure and manage centrally in either small or large networks – anytime and anywhere. The simplicity, unlimited scalability, and feature-rich management are just some of the reasons many businesses are moving to the cloud.
Offering the best of both worlds, Zyxel now provides the freedom of choice with the hybrid access points that allow users to flexibly switch between the cloud-managed and standalone modes that best fit their deployment needs. Users will be able to move to the cloud at any time they see fit, without needing to replace existing network investments or purchase additional hardware controllers or software.
For those who already owned the supported Zyxel APs, it only takes a free firmware upgrade to enable NebulaFlex on the devices.
Created for businesses spread across multiple locations without proper network management expertise or resources, Zyxel Nebula is a 100% cloud-based networking and management solution which centrally and remotely manages all Nebula wired, wireless and security devices from a single pane of glass – the Nebula Control Center (NCC).
Without any additional costs, users who own the hybrid access points will be able to reap the benefits of Zyxel Nebula Cloud, including 24/7 access to the Nebula dashboard, device/client monitoring and event log from anywhere in the world, and more. There’s also the option to upgrade to Nebula Professional Pack license for granular, enterprise-class features.
“We wanted to make it even easier and simpler for everyone to enjoy the flexibility and scalability that cloud networking could bring to their businesses,” comments Crowley Wu, senior assistant vice-president of Zyxel Networking Business Unit. “With NebulaFlex, they don’t have to worry about the upfront costs of replacing the entire network infrastructure; there’s literally nothing to lose to try it out.”
NebulaFlex is currently supported in the following Zyxel wireless access points: NWA1123-AC HD, NWA1123-AC PRO and NWA1123-ACv2 with firmware version 5.20 or above. The top of the range model, NWA1123-AC HD, is a Wave 2 Hybrid access point that supports a combined data rate of up to 1.6Gbps and introduces Multi User-MIMO (MU-MIMO) technology, the next evolution in WiFi. This enables an access point to communicate with multiple devices simultaneously and decreases the time each device has to wait for a signal and dramatically speeds up your network.”
The Nebula Mobile App offers a quick approach to network management, with which administrators can use the QR code scanner to register a large number of devices on Nebula Control Center all at once. Additionally, it provides an instant view of different sites for the IT staff to monitor the real-time network status.
* Built-in QR code scanner for adding hundreds of devices quickly.
* Photo capturing for uploading and recording locations where devices are mounted.
* Overview monitoring of APs, switches and gateways