Presenting a New Way of Finding the Fast Lane

You use an app to figure out the fastest ways around town. Why not an app that allows your mobile device to use your wireless network’s fast lane?

Technology is best realized when its entities can be visualized and are tangible. With this principle of simplicity, business app prioritization, or “fast lane” was developed as part of the Apple and Cisco collaboration to help IT prioritize apps by automatically configuring quality of service (QoS). We are proud to introduce the “Fast lane QoS” app for iOS 10.x devices that address a key question: Is my Wi-Fi Network fast lane enabled?

You can download the app here.

“Fast lane QoS” is an extremely simple and effective utility app that works with no configuration requirements. Just connect your iPhone or iPad to the wireless network and launch the app to find out whether your device is on the “fast lane”.

Once the key question on the fast lane status is answered, this leads to the question: How can we ensure quality of service is honored end-to-end?

The app answers that question too.

Simply switch to the “Traffic Test” screen that defaults to the cloud hosted traffic test server, select the data payload (1MB, 2MB or 3MB) and choose the QoS priority from the dropdown menu. Once you begin the test, the “DSCP In” markings can be verified on the Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) dashboard. Also, if you choose to execute the test against an on-premise server, the app has provisions to support this requirement.

There is more for the app developers who can leverage “fast lane” capabilities and ensure their apps receive guaranteed quality of service without worrying about any network complexity. More on this coming soon on a Cisco DevNet blog.

In the meantime, download this visual treat to your iOS devices and check the fast lane capabilities anytime, anywhere, on any Wi-Fi network.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can we activate “fast lane” on our Wi-Fi infrastructure?

a. Cisco WLAN –

Documentation

b. Meraki WLAN –

Documentation

NOTE: If “fast lane” status shows not connected on your existing Meraki Deployment, then make sure to request for firmware upgrade.

2. Can the app be used for performance testing?

a. The intent of the app is test the fast lane functionality end-to-end from the device to Wireless Infrastructure to ensure QoS DSCP markings are honored.

3. How can we verify the “DSCP In” markings on the WLC dashboard?

a. Navigate to “Monitor > Clients > AVC Statistics > Upstream” to view the “DSCP In” markings. Ensure Application Visibility & Control (AVC) is enabled on the WLC.

And for more information on taking the FastLane in your wireless network, click here.