As technology continues to advance, networks within offices, hotels, education spaces, and other verticals have grown more complex. Phones, computers, IoT devices, smart technology, and more can all be simultaneously running across a deployment’s Local Area Network (LAN). This can lead to issues with security, network organization, and scalability. As a result of these roadblocks, Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) have become an increasingly popular feature that can help partition physical networks into virtually manageable ones. Within this blog post, we’ll give you an introduction to building VLANs with Grandstream’s GWN layer 2+ switches.

Grandstream's portfolio of networking devices has grown rapidly over the past few years. This trend will only continue with our introduction of more switches, routers, and Wi-Fi access points. While our Wi-Fi access points have built-in controllers that can be used to manage a deployment of APs, a more robust platform solution for configuration, management, and troubleshooting of network infrastructure is often a better choice. Grandstream's GWN.Cloud and Grandstream Manager are just this. GWN.Cloud and GWN Manager are free, enterprise-grade, management platforms for Grandstream access points, routers, and switches. Thanks to streamlined monitoring and maintenance, managing a network or several networks across multiple locations has never been easier.

Over the past several years, Grandstream's portfolio of products has been gradually widening to offer installers and IT decision-makers the ability to create a comprehensive IT infrastructure of IP phones, IP PBXs, facility management devices, Wi-Fi equipment, and more. It is after a much-anticipated wait that we are introducing our first line of switches, the GWN7800 Series. The GWN7800 series are Layer 2+ managed network switches that allow small-to-medium enterprises to build scalable, secure, high-performance, and smart business networks that are accessible from the cloud. By reading this blog post, you'll learn about the technical capabilities of the GWN7800 series, key competitive features, deployment scenarios, and other important information you'll need to sell and deploy these devices. 

Grandstream Device Management System (GDMS) and UCM RemoteConnect empower installers with a cloud-based solution to easily manage all of their Grandstream IP PBX and IP endpoint deployments before, during, and after the project. These platforms come together to allow an installer to not only manage the entirety of a client's solution from the cloud but also to expand that deployment network to remote employees or satellite offices by utilizing UCM RemoteConnect. Within this blog post, we're going to be covering how GDMS and UCM RemoteConnect come together to offer a game-changing Grandstream configuration and management solution for installers. In order to get started, create an account on GDMS. UCM RemoteConnect is also accessed through the GDMS platform account.

Grandstream's Wi-Fi access point solution has evolved over the years. From our first Wi-Fi access point, the GWN7610, to our newer wide range of Wi-Fi 6 APs, our GWN devices are being utilized by clients worldwide and are helping businesses, schools, and governments provide powerful wireless networks to their users. If you are new to our GWN series, with over 14 Wi-Fi access points, three deployment configuration and management platforms, and other solutions to come, it can be a bit daunting to start learning. In this blog post, we'll take a step back from in-depth technical details and look at our GWN series as a whole, examining differentiators, key features, and providing you the introductory knowledge needed to begin working with our GWN access points. 

A captive portal has a variety of benefits when deployed into a Wi-Fi network. Being able to keep control of who can access the network, provide lead generation for commercial Wi-Fi environments, or ensure the user accepts terms and conditions are all advantages of a captive portal. Setting up a GWN captive portal is an easy process, and the variety of features available means that you can create a captive portal that is ideal for your deployment. Within this blog post, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide to creating a captive portal for the GWN series of Wi-Fi Access Points.

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It is impressive to think how technology has changed the way we interact with the electronics around us. The list of devices we can manage from cloud-based interphases is steadily growing and doesn’t show signs of slowing down. Lights, home appliances, and much of the technology we use on a day-to-day basis can be managed remotely in one way or another. The solutions that we make at Grandstream are no different. With the creation of Grandstream Device Management System, a Grandstream solution can be configured, provisioned, monitored, and troubleshot from the cloud. UCM RemoteConnect takes this a step further by enabling remote management of a UCM6300 series as well as easily enabling remote work.

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Grandstream’s IP phones are used around the world by businesses, schools, hotels, and ITSPs. They provide a desktop device that is feature-loaded, intuitive to use, and productivity-focused. The GRP2600 Series of Carrier-Grade IP Phones is the newest line of desktop IP phones and offers both essential and professional level devices for a variety of deployment scenarios. As the newest series, our GRP IP phones have advanced capabilities that the GXP Series of IP Phones lacks, and it is important to understand the difference between the two lines when making a purchasing decision. Within this blog post, we’ll be comparing the GXP and GRP series, and explaining where our newest generation of IP phones offer notable improvements.

en español

Using GDMS, UCM RemoteConnect, and GWN.Cloud

A typical IT infrastructure deployment has a variety of devices within it that all require provisioning, configuration, and management. Having these pieces of hardware under one brand helps streamline these processes; being able to access these devices from the cloud takes this to the next level. Grandstream’s mission is to connect the world, and this means making top-of-the-line features and technology more affordable and obtainable for small to medium businesses and IT installers. Cloud configuration and management through Grandstream Device Management System, UCM RemoteConnect, and GWN.Cloud is one way that we’ve built more value into our solutions. Within this blog post, you’ll learn how you can manage your Grandstream deployments from the cloud.

en español

802.11ax, MU-MIMO, and OFDMA

Wi-Fi 6, also known as 802.11ax, was released in 2019. It has only now begun to see mainstream adoption as the go-to Wi-Fi standard for Wi-Fi manufacturers and businesses alike. Although it may be more expensive, Wi-Fi 6 access points deliver key advantages over Wi-Fi 5. 801.11ax performs up to 4x better in denser environments than its 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) counterpart. Wi-Fi 6 is also designed to better manage multiple types of Wi-Fi devices that are simultaneously connecting to an access point. Lastly, according to chip manufactures, Wi-Fi 6 delivers up to 3x faster performance.

There are two major Wi-Fi 6 features that we'll be covering in this blog post, which makes all this possible, MU-MIMO and OFDMA.