As mobile office becomes more and more prevalent, WiFi roaming has become an essential part of our daily lives. Unfortunately, we often experience disruptions in our network connection due to changes in the IP subnet that can lead to slow or even broken connections. This is especially problematic for businesses as it can cause delays and interruptions that could have been avoided with the right setup.

Now, there are two common solutions available on the market today designed to help improve user experience while providing seamless roaming of campus wireless networks:

1) Establishing a Layer 2 network which covers all areas needing coverage but may not provide enough security;
2) Setting up a tunnel between old and new gateways so traffic from roamed terminals is sent through a centralized gateway controller before being forwarded back out again – this option offers better performance but in turn leads to complex configuration and inefficient traffic forwarding paths.

Learn from the distributed gateways in data centers to improve campus network

As enterprise around the world increasingly embrace digital transformation, they need a reliable campus network that can keep up with modern demands.

Asterfusion’s cloud-based campus network provides an innovative solution to this challenge by leveraging distributed gateways in the cloud campus network.

The concept of distributed gateways is based on a full three-layer IP routing network: each access switch has its own gateway subnet, allowing all cross-subnet forwarding actions to be completed on the nearest switch and avoiding potential risk of crushing any device in the system while significantly improving overall forwarding efficiency.

Distributed gateways in cloud campus Network enable Efficient forwarding Path

This differs from traditional centralized gateway solutions where terminal devices must establish tunnels after AP roaming across VLANs and then send roamed data packets back to their original gateway for processing – resulting in longer paths and slower speeds.

In contrast, Asterfusion’s distributed gateway solution allows each access switch to run multiple subnets at once so that traffic can directly forward after roaming through optimal path without needing extra steps or long pathways for packet delivery.

Traffic does not need to “go around” on a centralized gateway, and this millisecond-level network switching will not have any impact on the running upper-layer business.

The key contrasts between centralized& distributed gateways:

Distributed gateways in cloud campus Network Enable More streamlined network configuration

The constant IP address of the terminal is one of the necessary conditions for seamless roaming.

In Asterfusion’s campus solution, the entire network adopts a unified distributed gateway. This means that after a terminal goes online, their IP/MAC information and security control policies are synchronized across the entire network.

Since with the help of switches pre-configured with gateway information and automated IP/MAC learning capabilities, roaming between access points can be a seamless experience. Switches are able to detect when terminals have roamed from one point of access to another by automatically synchronizing their IP/MAC information in real time. This allows them respond quickly while also updating table entries across the network without any additional configuration on behalf of a network administrator during operation.

All that needs done beforehand is configuring all distributed gateways at once during initial setup—a task which should only take minimal effort for most experienced administrators.

Attachment: wireless roaming data reference
Switching delay 40ms, packet loss 0

Wireless roaming data reference, from the actual measurement of Asterfusion Suzhou office network (using the above-mentioned distributed gateway solution), the network switching delay is about 40ms, and the packet loss is 0

If our cloud campus network solution piques your interest, do not hesitate to reach out to us right away for further information bd@cloudswit.ch