Solutions
Wi-Fi 7 Migration
A Wi-Fi 7 refresh almost always forces a switching and PoE refresh underneath it. We quote the whole stack in one document so the access points are not sitting in boxes waiting for ports that cannot power them or uplinks that cannot carry them.
- Scope
- A standards migration — the AP and everything it depends on
- Quoted
- Access points, access switching, PoE headroom, uplinks, licensing
- Boundary
- RF design and site survey belong to your designer or integrator
The access point is the cheap part of a Wi-Fi 7 migration
Every generation of wireless has moved the bottleneck one layer down, and Wi-Fi 7 moves it decisively into the wired network. Wider channels and higher-order modulation mean an access point can now saturate the gigabit port it used to sit comfortably inside, so the access switch wants multi-gigabit ports. Higher-draw radios mean the port has to deliver more power, so the closet wants PoE headroom and often 802.3bt. More aggregate throughput per closet means the uplink wants 10 GbE and the optics to match. Quote the access points alone and you have bought the visible tenth of the project.
What has to move with the radios
The access port is the first dependency. An access point capable of multi-gigabit throughput plugged into a 1 GbE port is a throttled access point, and the difference shows up in exactly the dense environments that justified the upgrade. Multi-gigabit access switching is the line item that makes the rest of the spend worth making.
Power is the second. Tri-band radios with more chains draw more, and a closet sized for the previous generation frequently cannot carry a one-for-one replacement at full capability. The honest planning question is what the new access points negotiate at class, totalled across the closet, against the budget of the switch that will feed them.
The third is the part nobody budgets: licensing and management. Controller-based and cloud-managed wireless lines carry subscription terms, and a migration is the moment those terms reset. We quote the term with the hardware and state what renewal looks like rather than leaving a subscription to surface a year later.
Aruba wireless sits in our sister catalogs rather than the hub cart, so if your standard is Aruba, send the part numbers and they come back priced on the same quote as the switching and optics.
The stack, not the radio
Access points and wireless
Ubiquiti, Netgear, EnGenius and TRENDnet carry priced wireless rows across indoor and outdoor lines. We quote the model your design calls for with its mounting, and state availability per line rather than assuming stock.
Multi-gigabit access switching
Allied Telesis and Netgear cover the access and closet tiers with priced rows. The switch is sized to the negotiated PoE class of the new radios plus the uplink capacity the aggregate throughput needs.
Uplinks and optics
A closet that moves to Wi-Fi 7 usually needs its uplink moved to 10 GbE. Coded third-party optics from AddOn and Axiom cover most host platforms; we match module to platform, wavelength and distance.
What stays yours to run
Wireless is the one part of a network where the physical building is a variable, and we are honest about where our work stops. Channel planning, capacity modeling, predictive or on-site survey, AP placement and the RF design that comes out of them belong to your wireless designer, your integrator or your own network team. We quote and source the equipment that design calls for, and we can stage and label it per closet so the install is a swap.
We also make no claim about coverage or throughput in your building. Anyone who quotes you a guaranteed data rate from a floor plan is selling you something other than radio physics. What we will do is make sure the wired layer is not the reason the design underperforms.
The broader campus picture — outdoor coverage, structured cabling backbone, the whole connectivity program rather than the standards migration — is set out on the wireless and campus connectivity page.
Wi-Fi 7 migration questions
Do we have to replace the access switches to deploy Wi-Fi 7?
Not always, but often enough that it should be priced before the decision is made. The two triggers are the access port speed — a multi-gigabit-capable radio on a 1 GbE port is capped — and the PoE budget, since higher-draw radios can push a closet past what the existing switch supplies. We check both against your closet list and tell you which closets genuinely need to move.
Can we phase the migration closet by closet?
Yes, and that is usually the sane way to do it. We can quote the whole estate in one document and split the ordering by phase, so the pricing and screening are done once while delivery follows your install schedule. Long-lead lines are identified up front so a phase is not blocked by one back-ordered part.
Do you perform a wireless site survey?
No. Survey and RF design belong to your wireless designer, integrator or in-house team, and we would rather say so than sell a capability we do not run. Bring us the design — or the AP count and model your designer specified — and we quote and source the stack it depends on.
Is the wireless subscription included in the hardware price?
It depends on the line, which is exactly why we quote it explicitly. Some wireless hardware includes a term in the box, some requires a subscription from day one, and some gate management or telemetry features behind one. We state the term and what renewal looks like on the quote.
Can you supply Aruba access points?
Yes, through our sister catalogs rather than as a hub cart line. Send the part numbers with your requirement and they come back priced on the same quote as the switching, optics and any staging work.
Wireless background and the wiring underneath
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Quote the whole stack, not just the radios
Send the AP count and model your design calls for, plus the closet list underneath it. A Uniqcli specialist returns access points, access switching, PoE headroom, uplink optics and licensing terms in one document, screened and availability-stated per line.