Grandstreams GWN Cloud is a free cloud management platform and is a very powerful tool for those who want to manage their own WiFi and/or their customers WiFi in the cloud. 


***If you regularly install WiFi access points for your customers, you can create a new network for each customer, add access points to their network and configure them as shown below****


For more details on how to allow your customers to administer their own WiFi, see instructions at the end of this tutorial.


This tutorial is a basic guide to setting up Grandstreams 76xx series WiFi access points in GWN Cloud. 


To get the most out GWN Cloud download the user guide here:

https://documentation.grandstream.com/knowledge-base/gwn-management-platforms-user-guide/



Getting Started

To get started first go to gwn.cloud, select your preferred zone and click Sign up

Complete the Sign up fields

 

To get started, go to Dashboard/Network List and click Create Network, enter a name for the network and click Save. For the purposes of this tutorial the Network Name will be Simon Home.


Click Dashboard, then Network and you can now see the new network listed.

To add the first access point, select the new network name, go to Devices and click on the Add button.

Give the access point a name, for this demo I’m using Hallway as it will be placed in the hallway of my house. Most techs will use the location of the device as the name however that’s up to you.


***Always take a photo of the label on the rear of any access point and save it in a safe place as they are often mounted in difficult to reach places and these credentials may be needed sometime in the future***


 Type the 12 characters beside MAC from the label on the rear of the access point and type the WiFi password from the same label, then click Add.


***Remember that the WiFi password is case-sensitive***


The access point is now loaded to your new network on your GWN cloud account.

Next go to Settings, WiFi then click the Settings cog to edit the GWN-Cloud default SSID.

Type the SSID you want to use, click Enabled and then click on Access Security and type your WiFi password beside *WPA Pre-Shared Key.

***Remember that this will be the password used to connect to the WiFi***


To assist those devices that can roam between access points, click on Advanced directly under Device Assignment and Enable Voice Enterprise. By turning on Enable Voice Enterprise the sub-categories with be automatically turned on.


Leave all other values at the defaults and click on Device Assignment

Select your access point and click Save

The SSID will now show up in your new Network under SSIDs.

You can now power up your Grandstream access point via a POE switch or a POE injector and connect it to a LAN port on your internet router.


The LEDs will be green during start up and they will turn blue once the access point has connected to your GWN cloud account and pulled down the SSID and WiFi password you configured earlier.


Once the LED turns solid blue you should be able to use the WiFi by connecting to the SSID you configured earlier and by using the WiFi password you entered beside *WPA Pre-Shared Key above.


To verify the access point is online go to your new network, Access Points and Status.


Add a second access point


To add a second access point, go to your new network, Devices, and click the Add button. Give the access point a name, enter the MAC address and the WiFi password from the label found on the rear of the unit and click Add.


The second access point should now be in your Configuration list of your newly created SSID. Therefore both access points will broadcast the same SSID and if Enable Enterprise Voice is turned on, compatible devices will be able to roam between the access points.


You can now power up your second Grandstream access point via a POE switch or a POE injector and connect it to another LAN port on your internet router.


The LEDs will be green during start up and they will turn blue once the access point has connected to your GWN cloud account and pulled down the SSID and WiFi password you configured earlier.


Once the LED turns solid blue you should be able to connect to the SSID you configured earlier using the password you entered beside *WPA Pre-Shared Key above.


For your reference see the following table for LED status:


For Managed Service Providers

List of customers networks shown below.

If required you can give your customer access to their WiFi network as a Network Administrator or as a Guest Editor by clicking your username in the top-right corner, click on User Management then click on Add. 


Guest Editor has limited scope to administer a hospitality type guest portal only.




Type your customers email address, give them Network Administrator privilege and tick the box for their network and click Add. Your customer will receive an email that requires activation before they can administer the WiFi network.


Once your customer has activated the email they can login login to GWN Cloud and can only see and administer their own network.

Once logged in they can only see their own network and can only make changes to it.


If for any reason you need to stop someone from administering the network simply delete the account from the Users page.


Again, to get the most out GWN Cloud download the user guide here: https://documentation.grandstream.com/knowledge-base/gwn-management-platforms-user-guide/


Enjoy!!!