Historic Italian Hotel’s Network Gets a Much-needed Facelift

Zyxel_May

Marchese del Grillo

“With this smart, advanced technology, we have brought a touch of modernity to this historic, refined place. It has been an exciting step forward.”

Stefano Toffano,
Technical Manager, ETA srl

Summary
With its historical architecture and furnishings, a facelift was the last thing Marchese del Grillo needed. However, the same couldn’t be said of its network. The hotel wanted to bring high-speed WiFi to large indoor and outdoor areas, and had strict security and GDPR requirements. The new network also needed to allow for easy changes and expansion in the future as well as WAN failover to ensure reliable data backup and VoIP services. Several hurdles stood in the way of this, such as interference from the building’s 1.5-meters-thick walls and the existing network’s obsolete equipment and non-centralized nature. Fortunately for Marchese del Grillo, Zyxel’s solutions ticked every one of these boxes. Highperformance wireless is now accessible across the hotel. Indoor spaces are served by powerful NWA210AX and NWA90AX WiFi 6 APs, while the pool and reception area are covered by WAC6552D-S APs, which are specially designed for excellent performance in high-density outdoor environments, even in harsh weather. In terms of security, the network is secured via VLAN and guest security via L2 isolation, VLAN, and intra-BSS traffic blocking. Data traffic is now managed and protected by Zyxel’s USG FLEX 500 firewall. And thanks to Nebula, staff can monitor the network remotely via a centralized cloud platform, enabling them to optimize connections and make interventions in real time.

Challenges

• Provide total coverage indoors and outdoors, overcoming the interference posed by walls up to 1.5 meters thick 
• Replace obsolete equipment from different brands which wasn't centrally managed 
• Ensure entire network is secure and compliant with GDPR

Benefits

• Secure network for staff and guests via VLAN and data protected via UTM firewall 
• Stable, high-performance WiFi throughout all indoor and outdoor areas 
• Centralized, futureproof network with failover for data backup and VoIP services 
• Easy-to-manage, centralized cloud networking management

Products used
USG FLEX 500 UTM Firewall 
NWA210AX WiFi 6 Access Point
NWA90AX WiFi 6 Access Point 
GS1920-8HPv2 Smart Managed Switch
WAC6552D-S 802.11ac Access Point

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