Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
Summer 2023
Abstract
There are two major classes of Wi-Fi solutions: Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) Wi-Fi and enterprise Wi-Fi. A SOHO system is categorized by routers, a limited number of service set identifiers (SSIDs), and a single passphrase shared among users. An enterprise solution is categorized by numerous access points (APs), numerous SSIDs, local or cloud-based management, individual virtual local area networks (VLANs), monitoring and management of APs and users, and complex user login customization. Managed enterprise solutions come with web portals, which an organization can use to directly monitor and configure its network at will. Though the extensive features of an enterprise solution make it an attractive option for an organization that needs to provide a quality network to its population, cost is a barrier. The implementation of enterprise solutions is approximately ten times more expensive than the implementation of smaller, simpler SOHO solutions. But what if we could create a low-cost alternative to commercial enterprise Wi-Fi solutions? The goal of this project is to create an open-sourced cloud-managed enterprise Wi-Fi solution that will offer enterprise-level networking features comparable with commercial solutions, but deployable for a fraction of the cost, thereby expanding the accessibility of enterprise-level features to a wider audience of homes and low-revenue organizations. This section of the project focused on the creation of a web portal application and a cloud controller API to work with Professor Skon’s Raspberry Pi Wi-Fi software. The web portal and its API allow users to remotely manage various aspects of their network: access point and radio configurations, SSIDs, zones, individual network user-passphrase pairs, and per-user network data.
Recommended Citation
Polak, Michelle; Beshentseva, Irina; and Skon, James, "Cloud Controller and Web Portal for an Open-Source Managed Wi-Fi Solution" (2023). Kenyon Summer Science Scholars Program. Paper 664.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/summerscienceprogram/664