Juniper Networks Announces New Wi-Fi 6E, AI and IoT Product Launches

Juniper Networks announced new products at its 2021 Global Analyst, Influencer & Media Summit this week.

They include two new Wi-Fi 6E access points, an IoT Assurance service and a new support solution called Juniper Support Insights.

Juniper Support Insights features artificial intelligence (AI) and delivers visibility and insights across the vendor’s Junos portfolio. This is to make it easier for service providers, enterprises and partners to optimize the operation of their networks.

Juniper Networks’ Derrell James

Derrell James is EVP of Juniper Global Services. He said the use of data and automation are redefining how customer experience is delivered.

“Juniper Support Insights represents a major step forward in how we’re transforming services with a focus on personalized, proactive and predictive experience leveraging AI and cloud.”

Juniper AI-driven support simplifies connecting Junos-based customer platforms to the Juniper cloud. These include ACX Series, EX Series, MX Series, PTX Series, QFX Series and SRX Series. Data can be collected, correlated with Juniper-specific knowledge (known defects, contract status, End of Life/End of Support (EOL/EOS), product knowledge bases, security vulnerabilities). These can then be curated into actionable insights.

Current Juniper Care customers are automatically entitled to the value-added Juniper Support Insights option.

Additional digital support tools are available through Juniper Care. These include a personalized self-service portal, 24/7 digital assistant, service APIs for integration into third party systems, government support and partner renewals.

Wi-Fi 6E Launches

Additionally, Juniper Networks announced two new 6 GHz access points that leverage Mist AI. This aims to maximize Wi-Fi performance and capacity while simplifying IT operations.

Wi-Fi 6E is a new wireless standard that expands network capacity by making a larger amount of RF spectrum available in the 6 GHz range to add to the existing 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

To take advantage of Wi-Fi 6E, Juniper is announcing two new tri-band access points (APs), managed via the same Mist cloud and AI engine as the rest of the Juniper Mist portfolio. These are AP 45 – 2.4 GHz/5 GHz/6 GHz quad-radio, 4×4:4SS, vBLE array and AP 34 – 2.4 GHz/5 GHz/6 GHz quad-radio, 2×2:2SS, omni BLE.

Meanwhile, the new IoT Assurance service streamlines and scales the onboarding and securing of IoT devices without Network Access Control (NAC).

Many IoT devices do not support 802.1x, so they cannot be onboarded using traditional NAC solutions. Here they can be onboarded at cloud scale using private pre-shared keys (PPSK). This can be set up and administered using a self-serve programmable cloud portal.

Juniper Networks says it is “eliminating expensive third-party hardware and overlay software and enabling simple IoT onboarding via an intuitive cloud service.”