Your industrial footprint keeps expanding – more manufacturing plants, pumping stations, and power substations. But your security team isn’t growing at the same pace. Here’s what keeps CISOs awake: every new site increases your attack surface while resources stay flat.

If you’re managing OT security across multiple sites, you know this challenge. Teams spend weeks manually updating sensors with the latest firmware and threat intel in a never-ending loop. Site 12 runs the latest threat intelligence while Site 7 operates with firmware and threat intelligence that are six months old – leaving you exposed.

When the board or auditors request enterprise-wide reporting, you’re compiling spreadsheets from 30 sites – often taking weeks at a time. As the CISO, you have no aggregated view of vulnerabilities and threats, let alone the capability to stand-up an enterprise-wide governance program to drive down cyber risk strategically.

This approach isn’t sustainable – or secure.

The Real Cost of Siloed Security

Security teams at large industrial organizations spend significant time maintaining tools instead of remediating vulnerabilities and hunting threats. Your experienced security team should not be contending with out-of-date software, needing to troubleshoot connectivity, let alone having to manually distribute threat intelligence on a site-by-site basis – tasks that should be automated.

The business impact: regulatory fines from inconsistent security posture, operational disruptions from undetected threats, and budget overruns from inefficient resource allocation. Most critically, you can’t confidently answer stakeholder or board questions about your OT security posture because you lack consistent, enterprise-wide visibility.

What Multi-Site Industrial Operations Need

Industrial organizations require five capabilities to secure operations at scale:

1. Centralized control: Enterprise-wide management without complexity. Monitor all security site infrastructure from one console, not dozens of interfaces.
2. Automation at scale: Push updates to 100 sites as easily as one. Manual updates don’t scale and create dangerous security gaps.
3. Up-to-date threat intelligence: Always up-to-date and consistent zero-day vulnerability detection, malware detection, IDS signatures to detect malicious traffic across all sites.
4. Insight on global security posture: Security insights that serve both IT security teams and OT engineers. Dashboards should display asset health, vulnerabilities, and security posture together.
5. Executive reporting: Board-ready views showing security posture, risk trends, and compliance status across all sites.

Traditional point solutions create more silos, manual work, and security gaps.

Cyber Vision Site Manager: Scalable Industrial Security Management

Cisco Cyber Vision Site Manager delivers enterprise-wide management for every Cyber Vision Center and sensor across all industrial sites from a single console. Monitor sensor health, their connectivity status, license usage in real-time.

Site Manager automates software management across your entire infrastructure. Schedule and deploy updates to all sites in hours instead of weeks. The system respects operational windows – you control update timing to avoid production disruptions.

Site Manager also automatically distributes the latest threat intelligence to your entire OT security infrastructure from one location. This ensures zero-day vulnerabilities and threats are identified consistently across all sites. No intelligence gaps. No outdated protection. Additional capabilities include secure integration of Cyber Vision Centers with Cloud security solutions such as IP address geolocation to create allow and deny-list to prohibit communication to unauthorized geolocations.

Instead of updating Cyber Vision security infrastructure manually, on a site-by-site basis, your security team can instead focus on more important tasks. Existing Cyber Vision customers get to leverage this capability as part of their existing Cyber Vision license.

New Cyber Vision Application for Splunk: Turning Fragmented Data into Actionable Insights

Now that we’ve made it easier to manage your multisite industrial security infrastructure, how do you gain aggregated visibility from all sites to drive an enterprise-wide cyber risk governance program?

The Cyber Vision app for Splunk seamlessly enables Cyber Vision Center telemetry to be ingested into prebuilt and customizable dashboards in Splunk Enterprise – the Splunk Platform. Security analysts get a complete overview of all Cyber Vision telemetry, including focused views per sensor, operational and security overviews, vulnerabilities, asset summaries, and the ability to detect and remediate malicious activity across sites in one platform.

Pre-built dashboards provide immediate value by aggregating security telemetry from all sites into a single interface. The real power of the platform lies in customization bringing OT, IT and security together for specific use cases and personas. For example, plant managers can monitor local asset health, security teams can track cross-site vulnerability or security event comparisons and get context for faster threat detection, and executives can get a birds-eye view on operational and security data.

This transforms vulnerability management from site-by-site exercises into strategic, enterprise-wide programs. Gain comprehensive visibility into security weaknesses across all industrial assets, with prioritized risk scoring based on asset criticality, exploitability, and operational context.

The Cyber Vision application can be downloaded on Splunkbase.

The Complete Solution

These capabilities work together as an integrated approach:

Cyber Vision Site Manager handles infrastructure management – centralized deployment, automated software and threat intelligence updates, health monitoring, and troubleshooting across all sites.

Cyber Vision app for Splunk powers security operations – unified Cyber Vision telemetry aggregation, transforming industrial cyber risk management from a site-by-site exercise into a strategic, enterprise-wide OT security governance program.

Together, they deliver operational efficiency, security effectiveness, and strategic oversight. Manage industrial security infrastructure with confidence at scale, remediate vulnerabilities and threats faster, and effectively communicate cyber risk to executives and auditors.

The Path Forward

The question isn’t whether you’ll face sophisticated OT threats – it’s whether you’ll detect them in time. As industrial connectivity increases, so does your attack surface. Manual, site-by-site security management can’t keep pace.

Multi-site industrial operations require enterprise-wide security management without enterprise-wide complexity. With centralized management and unified visibility, security teams can finally scale industrial security programs to match their operational footprint.

Ask yourself: Can you confidently answer, “What’s our OT security posture right now across all sites?” How long would it take to deploy critical updates across all sites? Is your team stuck in a never-ending deployment and management loop, or are they able to proactively resolve vulnerabilities and detect threats?

Ready to see how leading industrial organizations scale OT security? Visit cisco.com/go/OTsecurity, download the solution at-a-glance or contact a Cisco sales representative to learn more about Cyber Vision Site Manager and the Cyber Vision app for Splunk.

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The enterprise branch has evolved from a simple extension of the data center into a critical gateway for cloud applications, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms, and an increasingly AI-driven workforce. But as encrypted traffic and threat volumes surge, IT leaders face an impossible choice: robust security or acceptable performance. Most branch deployments sacrifice one for the other.

To avoid compromising security or performance, branches have traditionally turned to a two-box model: a router for connectivity and a firewall for protection. This legacy approach increases complexity, costs, and operational risk. Cisco 8000 Series Secure Routers change that model by converging industry-leading routing and next-generation firewall into a single, purpose-built platform for the branch WAN edge.

Better yet, independent testing by NetSecOPEN proves that with Cisco 8000 Series Secure Routers, IT leaders no longer have to choose between performance and security.

Why independent validation matters

NetSecOPEN is a widely trusted, vendor-neutral organization known for its rigorous security efficacy and performance testing. Their evaluations use real-world traffic mixes, enterprise workloads, and current threat samples following RFC 9411 open-standard testing methodology.

NetSecOPEN’s independent validation provides an objective, unbiased assessment. Transparency and impartiality are crucial in helping to inform vendor selection and confirm that products meet industry standards and perform as claimed in practical scenarios.

Test results: setting a new benchmark

In NetSecOPEN’s rigorous evaluation, our latest generation 8375-E-G2 Secure Router sets a new benchmark for branch security and performance, with proven intrusion prevention system (IPS) effectiveness of 99.3%, 99.8% malware detection, and HTTPS and HTTP throughput of 1.63 Gbps and 8.01 Gbps, respectively. These results validate the router’s ability to block exploits, malware, and evasive threats under real-world conditions without compromising performance.

What this means for organizations

Powered by the new secure networking processor and unified Cisco platform, Cisco 8000 Series Secure Routers combine multi-threaded parallel processing, hardware-accelerated cryptography, an integrated artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) engine, hardware trust anchor, and a post-quantum cryptography (PQC)-ready encryption engine. It’s built to deliver high-performance encrypted traffic inspection without impacting application experience—game-changing capabilities in today’s AI-driven enterprise.

This also delivers end-to-end operational and business benefits to the branch:

• Simpler operations: One platform, one dashboard for networking and security.
• Comprehensive security: Efficacy delivered with no performance trade-off.
• Continuous innovation: Access to new features and capabilities through software-driven updates, eliminating the need for disruptive hardware refreshes.
• Lower total cost: A single secure edge platform that replaces the need for standalone router and firewall appliances—reducing hardware footprint, power, space, and licensing complexity across branch deployments.

Taking the next step

The convergence of routing and secure access secure edge (SASE) with comprehensive security capabilities represents the future of branch connectivity. That future is available today with proven, independently validated performance.

Ever found yourself circling a packed parking lot, heart sinking as you realize the only spot left is impossibly tight? Or perhaps you’ve experienced the dreaded “door ding” aftermath, wishing your car could just… park itself? And what about the sheer frustration of trying to squeeze yourself into your vehicle when it’s boxed in by other cars? What if we told you that future is already here, and it’s smoother, smarter, and more seamless than you can imagine? Prepare to say goodbye to parking woes and hello to a whole new era of convenience, thanks to innovative robotics and the ultra-reliable power of Cisco technology!

Watch the incredible video below showcasing HL Robotics’ “Parkie, – a revolutionary automated parking solution that’s changing the game in Korea. This isn’t just about parking; it’s about transforming the entire experience. You’ll see firsthand how Cisco’s Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul (URWB) ensures the seamless, continuous connectivity these intelligent robots need to operate flawlessly. Get ready to witness parking perfection!

The Brains Behind the Bots: Why Connectivity is Key

You’ve seen the magic, but how does it work? For a fleet of parking robots like Parkie to operate flawlessly, the underlying network isn’t just important – it’s absolutely critical. Imagine robots zipping around, precisely maneuvering vehicles, coordinating with each other, and responding to commands in real-time. Any hiccup, any delay, any dropped signal, and the whole system grinds to a halt.

These mechanical marvels demand uninterrupted, strong wireless communication. They need stable connectivity even in complex, dynamic environments like multi-story parking garages. High-speed roaming, seamless handoffs between access points, and zero packet loss are non-negotiable. It’s like a finely choreographed dance, and the network is the music that keeps everyone in perfect sync.

Meet Parkie: Your New Parking Pal from HL Robotics

Enter HL Robotics, a visionary company dedicated to making our lives easier and more efficient. Their flagship product, Parkie, is a testament to their innovative spirit. Parkie isn’t just a robot; it’s your personal parking valet! These intelligent robots take the stress out of parking by autonomously moving your vehicle into tight spots, eliminating door dings, and even handling your luggage with ease.

HL Robotics understands that parking lots come in all shapes and sizes, requiring flexible solutions. Whether it’s a single pair of robots or a fleet of ten or more working simultaneously, Parkie ensures seamless service, optimizing space and delivering unparalleled convenience.

Cisco Powers the Precision: URWB and Industrial Wireless in Action

So, what’s the secret sauce enabling Parkie’s smooth moves? It’s Cisco’s powerful wireless technology, specifically our Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul (URWB). Cisco URWB technology is engineered for environments where even a millisecond of disruption can be costly.

Here’s how Cisco URWB ensures Parkie’s flawless performance:

• Uninterrupted Signal: Cisco’s wireless signal remains strong and consistent throughout the entire parking space, ensuring robots are always connected. Near-zero latency and lossless communication provide stable signal quality.
• Seamless Mobility: With URWB, robots maintain seamless connectivity through “Make Before Break” handoffs, even while constantly on the move. This means stable, high-speed roaming without a hitch, tracking the movement of the wheels.
• Multipath Operations (MPO): Even when multiple robots are moving and changing access points, URWB’s MPO keeps moving devices connected by sending high-priority traffic to multiple access points at once on different paths and frequencies, guaranteeing stable performance without packet loss or delays.
• Built-in Network Monitoring: Unforeseen communication interruptions can happen. That’s why Cisco’s solution includes a robust network monitoring system, IW Monitor. It logs network status in real-time, allowing operators to quickly identify the exact time, access point, and client affected by any disconnection. IW monitor’s invaluable insights help in swift troubleshooting and corrective action, keeping operations running smoothly.

This robust, industrial-grade wireless infrastructure is what allows Parkie robots to constantly communicate with the server, send appropriate commands, and coordinate their intricate dance with absolute precision.

Beyond the Lot: Cisco’s Rugged Reach

The challenging environment of a parking lot – with its concrete structures, moving vehicles, and harsh environmental conditions like humidity, rain, or extreme temperatures – perfectly illustrates the need for truly resilient networking. This is precisely where Cisco’s Rugged Enterprise Networking solution truly shines.

Just as URWB ensures Parkie’s reliability in a demanding parking garage, Cisco’s broader Rugged Enterprise Networking solutions are designed to extend your secure campus network beyond traditional office walls, across rugged environments. This enables innovation, reduces complexity, and enhances security in even the toughest conditions. These solutions, which include our Industrial Wireless Access Points with URWB technology, are purpose-built to withstand extreme conditions, delivering secure, reliable, and high-performance connectivity where standard networks simply can’t. Ultimately, it’s about empowering businesses to connect everything, everywhere, no matter how tough the terrain.

Ready to See the Future of Parking?

Don’t just read about it – experience it! Watch the video above to see HL Robotics’ Parkie, powered by Cisco URWB, in action. Prepare to be amazed by the convenience, efficiency, and sheer brilliance of automated parking. The future of parking is here, and it’s connected by Cisco!

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The state of business Wi-Fi right now

The business landscape isn’t just changing fast—it’s transforming at the speed of AI. Networking teams now face challenges their Wi-Fi isn’t built for. AI and IoT operations need continuous, often instant access to data. Device proliferation is clogging up networks. And unmanaged devices are increasing risk exposure.

Without the right approach, network bottlenecks become business bottlenecks. That means more support tickets, more security incidents, and less time spent focusing on business growth.

The solution is simple: enhanced performance, resilience, and security with Wi-Fi 7.

Why businesses need faster, more secure Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi 7 uses advancements like wider channels and multi-link operation (MLO) to dramatically transform network performance. If your business depends on high-speed connectivity (looking at you retail, manufacturing, and financial services), the outcomes are tangible: 

• Drastically lower latency
• Much higher bandwidth for data-intensive apps
• Faster data transfer speeds
• Enhanced network reliability

By implementing Wi-Fi 7 solutions, you’ll be able to support everything from 4K and 8K video streaming to data-hungry AI applications with ease.

Wi-Fi 7 also provides security enhancements by incorporating Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3). As your network scales and your company grows, WPA3 enables more advanced encryption and authentication methods, ensuring more reliable connectivity for employees and customers.

Why companies of all sizes are moving to Wi-Fi 7

What do the most successful companies across industries consistently deliver? Experiences. And every experience in today’s digital-first world depends on the power of the network. Wi-Fi 7 unlocks new, bespoke experiences at scale, securely—no matter the retail location, event venue, or crowd size.

When you move to Wi-Fi 7, you can expect massive upgrades, like:

• Ultra-high performance: 4x data transfer rates compared to Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, and 2x wider channels up to 320 MHz.
• Built-in security: WPA3 certification with mandatory Protected Management Frames to protect against deauthentication attacks.
• Simplified IT operations: Flexible management across cloud, on-premises, or hybrid environments.
• AI-driven assurance: Predicts and resolves issues proactively, ensuring consistent, high-quality connectivity.

Now, let’s take a look at Cisco Wi-Fi 7 in action.

How a global retailer delivers bespoke experiences with Wi-Fi 7

Samsøe Samsøe is a retailer that puts innovative customer experiences first. With 69 locations in 19 countries, creating those differentiated experiences in every store is no easy feat.

Then they moved to a cloud-first, wireless-first model with Cisco. By deploying Wi-Fi 7 access points in stores, Samsøe Samsøe made in-store experiences unique and frictionless for customers.

Picture this:

• Joining the loyalty program with one tap
• Syncing instantly with POS and automatically connecting to Wi-Fi in every store
• Using Wi-Fi 7 infrastructure to gain actionable insights into customer behavior
• Experiencing innovations like smart dressing rooms that simplify try-before-you-buy

Advanced Wi-Fi 7 features like high throughput, location services, and OpenRoaming data make it all possible. Best of all, these outcomes are repeatable. With the Meraki dashboard, Samsøe Samsøe can use network templates to spin up new locations with 300% fewer IT resources.

But retail isn’t the only industry where Wi-Fi 7 use cases are changing the game.

Event experiences in the AI era: Live Nation and BottleRock

Live Nation Entertainment produces 40,000 shows and 100 festivals every year, and BottleRock Napa Valley continues to be a marquee event.

This year, Live Nation’s production team had clear goals:

• Provide secure, high-performance connectivity for thousands of simultaneous users in a high-density environment
• Support massive real-time data transfer volumes without hiccups
• Ensure zero downtime during peak moments
• Deliver comprehensive network and operational visibility to manage crowd flow, security, and vendor transactions

The math was daunting: 55,000 unique Wi-Fi users, more than 20,000 concurrent connections, 44 terabytes of data, and three days of unforgettable festival experiences.

Cisco and partner Clair Global delivered advanced wireless solutions to meet these goals. The new Cisco Wireless 9179F large public venue access point and Catalyst 9300 switches provided robust, low-latency, high-bandwidth connectivity. Thanks to OpenRoaming, festivalgoers enjoyed password-free, automatic, and secure Wi-Fi access for more convenient event experiences.

Live Nation also leveraged AI area occupancy and presence analytics directly on Cisco MV cameras to get real-time telemetry on crowd flow and security. Plus, Splunk dashboards aggregated data from network sensors, cameras, and applications to deliver comprehensive operational insights and help optimize future events.

Now, let’s move to our epic team-up with the USGA at the U.S. Open.

U.S. Open Golf: Connectivity from the tee to the clubhouse

How’s this for a challenge: powering secure network access for more than 225,000 attendees across four days, 900 screen displays, and 191 acres of ground at Oakmont Country Club.

The USGA deployed CW9179F Access Points—designed specifically for large-scale environments like the men’s U.S. Open—to deliver faster network speeds, lower latency, and reliable, high-density connectivity. Campus Gateways were also deployed, a cloud-based wireless solution purpose-built for seamless roaming at scale, so fan devices stay connected as they traverse the course.

The results speak for themselves:

• 82 terabytes of data transferred over the USGA network (including 13 TB of fan data)
• 40,195 unique devices supported
• 4x faster upload and download speeds in high-density areas of the course

The ecosystem at the USGA also integrated Splunk observability to deliver real-time network visibility and insights, Cisco Spaces to understand crowd movement and hotspots, and Webex to make staff collaboration a breeze.

How Cisco Wi-Fi 7 enhances business connectivity

Cisco Wi-Fi 7 access points are designed to support growing businesses of all sizes. Our APs go beyond the standard with built-in Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul (URWB) and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technologies. These innovations deliver low-latency connectivity to support advanced applications and seamless mobility for users across diverse environments. And now, our Wi-Fi 7 access points are even simpler to purchase and deploy with unified licensing and a single support model.

Security is fused into the network with WPA3 and Cisco ISE, enabling dynamic segmentation and adaptive policy management. This empowers IT to protect every Wi-Fi 7 connection to devices, users, apps, and more.

To keep pace with AI advancements, we’ve infused AI-powered assurance across our entire Wi-Fi 7 portfolio:

• Automated Root Cause Analysis (RCA): Quickly identifies and expedites issue resolution to reduce troubleshooting time.
• Client Analytics: Provides real-time device identification and profiling to manage and troubleshoot unmanaged devices.
• AI-Enhanced Radio Resource Management (AI-RRM): Uses machine learning to optimize wireless configurations proactively to improve connection quality.
• Seamless integration with ThousandEyes: Enables predictive network optimization to ensure more efficient traffic flow.
• Unified AI-powered platform: Supports continuous performance optimization to drastically reduce manual errors and ensure every user experience is flawless.

Why now is the time to upgrade

As the digital landscape changes at the pace of AI innovation, your business needs to keep up. More devices, higher data consumption, AI applications, and more demanding customer expectations require it.

With Cisco Wi-Fi 7 solutions you’ll be able to:

• Fuel employee innovation and collaboration with reliable, high-speed wireless
• Deliver bespoke experiences in any setting, from boutique retail locations to epic events
• Power new levels of operational efficiency and IT agility, all while reducing costs
• Lay a foundation for the future-proofed workplace, with a more secure, resilient network that scales at the speed of your growth

So, are you ready to see what Cisco Wi-Fi 7 solutions can do? Check out our latest offers now.

Wireless networks are the lifeblood of the modern workplace. They enable new levels of productivity and business growth, while offering phenomenal user experiences and provide a platform for innovation. But let’s be real—you don’t want to broadcast RF into the void and hope only the right people are listening. At Cisco, we know that wireless security isn’t just about slapping WPA3 on your SSIDs and calling it a day; it demands building a multilayered defense that adapts faster than threat actors can say “evil twin.”

Why the airwaves are a battlefield

Wi-Fi’s broadcast nature is both its superpower and its Achilles’ heel. While your users enjoy seamless roaming, attackers are out there with Python scripts, probing for misconfigurations and setting up rogue APs. Cisco’s two-decades-plus leadership in wireless networking means we’re constantly engineering solutions for high-density, high-stakes scenarios—think healthcare teams serving patients, classrooms streaming lectures, and manufacturing with massive IoT swarms.

The Cisco approach to defeating wireless threat vectors

Here’s how the modern wireless warrior outsmarts the enemy:

Zero-trust onboarding: Because MAC filters are so 2003

Basic MAC filtering isn’t cutting it anymore. It’s far too easy to spoof. Modern enterprise security demands a more holistic approach. It starts with using 802.1X authentication and TLS-based EAP methods that provide strong mutual authentication, where both client and network prove their identity with X.509 certificates.

For example, Cisco wireless LAN controllers paired with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) create an 802.1X authentication pipeline with dynamic VLAN assignment, downloadable access control lists (dACLs), segmentation with security group tags (SGTs), and policy enforcement that shuts down attackers. No cert? No network. It’s that simple.

Encryption that actually matters: WPA3 and beyond

Our Wi-Fi 7 access points ship with the latest WPA3 security. Enhancements to WPA3 Personal, Enhanced Open, and WPA3-Enterprise provide the strongest encryption with AES-256-GCMP protecting your data over the air. And for those already thinking about the threat of quantum computers, we support WPA3-Enterprise-192, which offers the strongest encryption and authentication available while post-quantum cryptography wireless standards are being developed. A mandatory feature of WPA3 is Protected Management Frames (PMF/802.11w), which protects you from deauthentication and disassociation attacks.

Adaptive wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS): The AI-powered spectrum sentinel

Cisco Adaptive Wireless IPS Software monitors every frame flying through your airspace. Fuzzed beacons? Detected. Evil twins? Quarantined. DDoS floods? Mitigated. Using network traffic analysis, network device and topology information, signature-based techniques, and anomaly detection, it learns your RF environment and automatically distinguishes between a well-behaved client and a sophisticated adversary. Add rogue and honey pot detection through managed SSID rules and start sending bad actors packing.

Mastering the patch cadence: Firmware updates and certificate hygiene

Firmware updates aren’t suggestions—they’re your first line of defense against threats. Cisco ships continuous firmware drops for its access points and controllers that squash vulnerabilities and boost stability. Stale firmware is an invitation for attackers. And those X.509 certificates powering your EAP-TLS authentication? They expire. Automate renewal workflows and leverage Cisco features to simplify patching. Certificate lifecycle management isn’t glamorous, but neither is explaining to the business why email went dark.

Real-time detection, assurance, and automated wireless operations

Cisco automatically baselines normal behavior, flags anomalies, and auto-triggers responses before your SOC even gets the alert. Detect rogue DHCP servers, identify suspicious client roaming patterns, and catch misconfigured SSIDs before they become incident reports. And use Cisco CleanAir on access points for event-driven radio resource management to automatically detect and remediate high levels of interference that could be a wireless jamming attack.

But we all know the network is not the end goal for attackers. They want to compromise clients and applications. Cisco brings native integrations with Apple, Intel, Samsung, and Zebra to deliver real-time granular insights into client behavior. Add to this Cisco ThousandEyes integrations and Cisco Application Visibility and Control (AVC), and you’ll have greater visibility so you can better protect every client and application on your network.

You get the kind of visibility that turns reactive firefighting into proactive threat hunting, because the best security incidents are the ones that never make it past your automated defenses.

Practitioner protocols: Your security runbook

• Deploy 802.1X + EAP-TLS: It’s certificate-based auth or bust. Integrate with ISE for policy perfection.
• Stateful segmentation: Dynamically group and isolate clients using Campus Fabric and SGTs—smart segmentation, zero hassle.
• Mandate WPA3-Enterprise: No excuses. Use transition mode, if necessary, but set the sunset date now.
• Weaponize ISE + Adaptive WIPS: Dynamic posture assessment + RF threat hunting = a beautiful security symphony.
• Patch like your network depends on it: Firmware updates and certificate lifecycle management are not optional.
• Embrace AI-driven analytics, insights, and operations: Cisco Wireless assurance including Cisco ThousandEyes = visibility superpowers.

Mission accomplished: Now lock it down

Securing enterprise wireless isn’t a checkbox—it’s an ongoing fight requiring intelligence, automation, and hardware that doesn’t fold under pressure. The Cisco Wi-Fi 7 ecosystem, battle-tested security frameworks, and Cisco ISE integrations give you the tools to build networks that are both high performance and hardened against modern threats. Craving more wireless security wisdom? Pick your format: Read more about what Wi-Fi security really means, or tune in to the Packet Pushers podcast to discover the Wi-Fi 7 secrets your competitors don’t want you to know. (Warning: both may cause sudden urges to audit your wireless security posture.)

Now, go forth and lock down those airwaves like the Wi-Fi warrior you are meant to be.

The next frontier of connectivity

Across every industry, networks are under pressure. AI applications are consuming exponentially more bandwidth than traditional workloads. Device density is surging and experiences increasingly depend on reliable, real-time wireless performance.

As organizations embrace hybrid work, intelligent buildings, and connected operations, wireless networks must now handle unprecedented bandwidth, latency, and security demands.

But AI is more than a challenge—it’s an opportunity. From safer autonomous factories to smarter hospitals and immersive digital campuses, AI-driven innovation depends on fast, trustworthy data exchanges. To realize these opportunities, organizations need networks that are intelligent, secure, and scalable.

The latest Cisco wireless innovations deliver exactly that. IDC recently named Cisco a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Enterprise Wireless LAN 2025 Vendor Assessment—recognition that reflects our commitment to define what enterprise-grade connectivity looks like today. I’m excited to share how our newest advancements—built on three pillars: scalable devices ready for AI, AgenticOps for operational simplicity, and security fused into the network—extend that leadership even further.

Scalable devices ready for AI

The Cisco Wi-Fi 7 portfolio delivers comprehensive coverage for every operational need through a full range of advanced access points and infrastructure solutions. It provides scalable, reliable connectivity across hospitality, education, enterprise campuses, and high-density venues such as stadiums. Built on a foundation of continuous innovation, Cisco continues to raise the bar for wireless performance and scale with flexible management options spanning cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployments.

We’re now extending this portfolio with new, versatile options engineered for low- to medium-density environments:

• Cisco Wireless 9171 Series Access Points: Providing the flexibility, intelligence, security, and full performance of Wi-Fi 7 without the cost or complexity of high-density infrastructure; designed for low-density environments like classrooms, retail spaces, and small- to mid-sized businesses.
• Cisco Wireless 9174 Series Access Points: Delivering high-speed, reliable connectivity for modern applications that can’t tolerate downtime; designed for demanding environments like healthcare facilities, hospitality, manufacturing floors, and large office campuses. This enterprise-grade access point offers tri-band support (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) with both integrated omnidirectional and external antenna connector models, allowing the CW9174E to adapt to unique coverage scenarios and support mission-critical wireless needs.
• Cisco CW9800-L Wireless Controller: Enabling enterprises in regulated industries like finance, healthcare, and government to modernize their wireless infrastructure while meeting stringent security certifications and compliance requirements. This robust and scalable controller platform delivers the secure, reliable wireless infrastructure that’s essential for critical business functions, seamlessly integrating with Cisco’s broader networking and security ecosystem without compromising performance.

Complementing these devices is the Cisco Campus Gateway, recently recognized with the Wireless Broadband Alliance Wi-Fi Network Technology Award 2025. This enterprise-class, cloud-native solution delivers real-time control and active-active stateful load balancing to ensure seamless roaming at scale—supporting up to 50,000 clients and 5000 access points with cloud management, without requiring network redesign.

This unified infrastructure empowers enterprises to meet evolving connectivity needs with seamless, high-performance, and secure wireless experiences built to handle AI’s unique demands.

AgenticOps for operational simplicity

Cisco is redefining wireless assurance—simplifying radio frequency (RF) and client management, accelerating troubleshooting, and delivering on the promise of AgenticOps. These innovations give IT teams greater visibility and control, allowing them to proactively detect issues, reduce mean time to resolution, (MTTR) and keep users connected with confidence.

Features like Cisco AI-Enhanced Radio Resource Management (AI-RRM), which automatically optimizes radio performance, and Cisco Intelligent Packet Capture, which provides real-time visibility and actionable insights down to the packet level—keep networks performing at their best.

Building on these foundations, we’re introducing new capabilities that further streamline operations and proactively maintain wireless health:

• Roaming health insights: Identify and display roaming issues at the network and location level to accelerate troubleshooting. This feature simplifies visibility into client roaming behavior, providing actionable data that reduces MTTR.
• Client analytics with Zebra integration: Gain native visibility into Zebra devices without requiring extra client software. Zebra joins Apple, Intel, and Samsung in partnering with Cisco to simplify client management by displaying trends and insights at the device and driver level. For instance, in a warehouse environment, network admins can leverage this to track Zebra handheld scanners—including driver and serial number information—to quickly troubleshoot connectivity issues.
• Active testing (currently in beta): Enable on-demand and scheduled tests at the access point to proactively identify network issues. Powered by ThousandEyes, active testing enables network admins to easily pinpoint where issues occur—anywhere from the access point to the cloud. For example, a university campus can run active tests with the access point acting as a client device, helping to detect and resolve network bottlenecks before students experience connectivity problems during peak hours.

Together, these capabilities reduce manual effort, save time, and ensure consistent, reliable experiences across both cloud and on-premises deployments.

Security fused into the network

Security is foundational to everything we build. Cisco goes beyond traditional security measures by integrating it deeply into the network. This includes securing app access for users, things, and agents through solutions like Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), secure access service edge (SASE), and adaptive policy enforcement. Network access is protected with advanced wireless intrusion prevention systems (aWIPS) and Air Marshal, while network connectivity is safeguarded using WPA3, MACSec, and IPsec protocols.

Devices themselves are secured with features such as Cisco Secure Boot (PDF) and Cisco Live Protect. This holistic, multi-layered approach means security is intrinsic, not an add-on. Every component, from device to application, works together to protect data, prevent threats, and enable organizations to confidently scale wireless access in an increasingly complex, AI-driven environment.

Connectivity built for tomorrow

These innovations position Cisco at the forefront of wireless technology, delivering scalable, intelligent, and secure solutions that empower customers to thrive in an increasingly connected world.

Thank you for your continued trust in Cisco as we build the future of wireless together.

Deep within a cutting-edge Planet Farms factory environment, nestled not on sprawling fields but towering upwards in layers, produce is being farmed in tightly controlled conditions. This is where traditional agriculture is being revolutionized, within a highly automated, data-driven, vertical farming model.

“If we want to set new standards in vertical farming, we must start with a radical change of perspective,” says Massimo Mistretta, CISO, Planet Farms. “We want to change the way the world thinks about agriculture.”

Creating efficiency through a seamlessly connected network

The change is to shift from supply-led farming to demand-led. The Planet Farms model is not restricted by seasonal growing cycles, geography, or access to water. For Planet Farms, the work isn’t done by tractors, but by robots moving on the plant and automated guided vehicles (AGVs). This is critical to maintaining the highly efficient processes Planet Farms has developed to grow fresh, nutritious, flavorful food. Robots transport everything from seedlings to harvested produce, ensuring minimal human contact and maximum speed. No soil, no pesticides, and minimal water.

“The customer is the first to open the bag and touch the product,” Mistretta points out. “Everything else is completely automated, from seeding to primary and secondary packaging. The product doesn’t need to be washed; it arrives ready to eat.”

However, keeping everything seamlessly connected posed a challenge. For critical, latency-sensitive communications required by AGVs, a dropped connection or even a pause during handoff could disrupt operations, potentially leading to delays or errors.

Real-time data access through automation

Enter Cisco Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul (URWB). Planet Farms discovered that URWB was designed precisely for connecting moving assets, providing a level of performance that standard Wi-Fi couldn’t guarantee for its critical operations. URWB offers ultra-reliable, low-latency wireless connectivity with seamless handoffs and zero packet loss, essential for uninterrupted movement of their robots and AGVs.

“Cisco URWB enables our AGVs and 3D cameras to collect data in real time without interruption. This data is vital for advanced agentic AI models to make informed decisions.” – Massimo Mistretta, CISO, Planet Farms

Unlike Wi-Fi, URWB employs a “make before break” roaming mechanism, establishing the connection to the next access point before dropping the connection to the current one. Its Multipath Operations (MPO) technology allows traffic, especially critical data, to be sent to multiple access points simultaneously. This means that even with obstacles and interference common in complex industrial environments, such as a multi-level vertical farm, if one connection is interrupted, the traffic still gets through via another path.

Deploying URWB felt surprisingly familiar to Planet Farms’ existing IT team. The solution is built on 802.11 standards and deploys just like Wi-Fi, making it quick for teams to get connected. Planet Farms now has a wireless network that can finally keep pace with its ambitious automation. The network is then centrally monitored and maintained using tools such as Cisco Industrial Wireless Monitor, providing real-time data and alerts.

“We want to show that vertical farming is not only feasible but can be profitable.” – Massimo Mistretta, CISO, Planet Farms

Innovation and increased sustainability

For Planet Farms, Cisco URWB enables the high level of automation necessary to run its vertical farms efficiently, reducing downtime, complexity, and manual intervention. It supports the precise, sub-millisecond latency needed for AGVs to navigate tightly controlled paths. This technological leap isn’t just about connectivity; it enables Planet Farms’ mission of producing delicious, healthy, and sustainable vegetables without pesticides, minimizing its environmental impact.

By going vertical and embracing technologies like Cisco URWB, Planet Farms is truly shaping the future of agriculture.

Imagine needing to connect a new building, parking lot, or sports field to your network. The vision is clear—but the reality of running fiber? That’s a whole different story. For IT leaders, the cost and complexity of digging, trenching, and laying cables can put projects on indefinite hold – imagine this challenge for cities and school districts working to close the digital divide in underserved and rural communities.

While fiber-optic cable is often considered the gold standard for connectivity, there are a few important factors to consider:

• Time: Projects can be delayed and stretch on for months, as they often require trenching, environmental clearances, and can cause disruption to people in the surrounding area.
• Obstacles: Highways, rivers, graveyards, and historic sites can make traditional cabling nearly impossible.
• Cost: Expenses can range from $1 to $6 per foot. Urban projects may reach $40,000–$80,000 per mile, while rural deployments often higher due to difficult terrain and lengthy permitting.

Wireless backhaul provides a compelling alternative to physical cabling, using high-capacity wireless links to connect access points and extend network reach where fiber or copper would be too costly or time-consuming. Unlike traditional wired infrastructure, wireless backhaul can be deployed rapidly with minimal disruption, making it ideal for expanding connectivity to parking lots, adjacent building areas, or even entire communities and rural regions.

By addressing common cabling challenges—such as high costs, lengthy installation times, and geographic obstacles—wireless backhaul enables agile, scalable network expansion for everything from smart cities and industrial automation to community internet access. The result is connectivity that is faster, more affordable, and far more inclusive.

Cisco’s access points make it easy for you to use URWB as a backhaul technology to extend your network and Wi-Fi for end-user access simultaneously. This means when you need to extend Wi-Fi to a new location, a single remote access point is all you need—simplifying installation, reducing hardware costs, and accelerating deployment.

Did you know? Cisco’s access points can simultaneously extend your network with URWB and deliver Wi-Fi access simultaneously—so extending your network is now even easier.

Let’s explore three practical use cases URWB helps you connect farther, faster, and smarter.

1. Bring Wi-Fi Where You Never Thought Possible. Whether you’re overseeing a university campus, healthcare complex, or corporate HQ, your network often needs to reach places fiber just can’t go—at least not easily or affordably. Think parking lots, outdoor event spaces, or new temporary structures. With Cisco access points, you can quickly bridge these gaps— extending your network with URWB and enabling seamless Wi-Fi for students, employees, or guests wherever they need it. Deployment is fast and flexible, with access points installed on rooftops, light poles, or existing infrastructure—no digging required.

2. Extend Physical Security Beyond the Building. Modern security requires eyes everywhere. But placing cameras at the perimeter of a facility, near parking areas, or covering outdoor assets can be cost-prohibitive if you rely on trenching cable. With URWB, you can connect cameras and sensors across your property—delivering the bandwidth and reliability you’d expect from fiber, without the cost or delay. This is ideal for campus perimeters, athletic fields, or remote storage areas within your grounds.

3. Quickly Connect Communities, New or Temporary Buildings. Need to bring connectivity to a modular classroom, event tent, or a newly built annex? Or maybe extend connectivity to under connected neighborhoods? Running fiber might not be practical—or possible on short notice. URWB lets you set up high-performance links in days, not weeks, helping you adapt to changing needs. Cisco URWB empowers communities to bridge these gaps—connecting city buildings, libraries, or distant school campuses with robust, scalable wireless links, Wi-Fi can be enabled in the access point to provide access to end-user devices. This flexibility makes it ideal for temporary classrooms, construction trailers, or pop-up health clinics on your property.

Real-world solutions

Organizations are putting these ideas to work—right now:

Canutillo Independent School District, Texas

“We needed to extend reliable connectivity to our athletic fields and remote campus buildings, and traditional fiber just wasn’t feasible. With Cisco’s wireless backhaul, we connected every corner of our district—quickly and cost-effectively.”
— Gary Gomez, Executive Director of Technology, Canutillo ISD

City of Fort Worth

“We saved substantial time and money by deploying Cisco’s wireless backhaul instead of running new fiber. The reliability and performance exceeded our expectations, even in challenging urban environments.”
— Kevin Gunn, Chief Technology Officer, City of Fort Worth

Break Connectivity Barriers—No Cables Required

Cisco’s URWB isn’t about replacing every fiber run—it’s about giving IT leaders the flexibility to extend networks where it matters most, when it matters most. With enterprise-grade reliability, simple deployment, and the ability to scale as your needs grow, Cisco URWB helps you rapidly extend your network wherever you need.

Cisco access points supporting both Wi-Fi and URWB simultaneously offer:

• Rapid deployment: No cabling, no delays—just a clear path and power at each access point
• Rock-solid reliability: Backhaul technology engineered for mission-critical applications.
• Flexible coverage: Extend your network exactly where you need it within your property.
• Cost savings and simplified operations: One access point delivers both wireless backhaul and Wi-Fi, streamlining deployment and management.

If you’re ready to expand your network faster, more affordably, and with greater flexibility—learn more about Cisco URWB.