Your wireless network.Your cloud controller.None of the server work.

CloudWLC is a fully managed hosting and migration service for wireless LAN controllers — the “WLC” in the name. We host and operate your controller for you, deploy it automatically, and give you a guided way to move an existing estate onto it.

For UniFi networks, that is a dedicated UniFi Network controller. For Cambium networks, it is the cnMaestro On-Premises software edition, running in our cloud. “On-Premises” is Cambium's name for the self-hosted edition of the controller. It does not mean anything is installed at your premises.

CloudWLC is a home for wireless LAN controllers rather than a single-vendor product. Cambium and UniFi estates are self-service: create an account, choose your controller — cnMaestro for Cambium, UniFi Network for UniFi — and deploy it. Cambium estates also get the guided migration from Cambium Cloud described on this site; UniFi sites come across using UniFi's own backup and site migration, with step-by-step guidance.

If you run Aruba or Ruckus, or a mix of vendors, tell us about your estate and we will talk through how CloudWLC fits it.

CloudWLC is built and operated by Optaro, the network assurance specialists. Optaro has deployed 10,000+ access points deployed for major hospitality venues around the world, and builds Optaro Assure (network monitoring and wireless RF audits) and Optaro Connect (hotel Wi-Fi and guest access). The same team hosts and supports your controller.

No. Your controller runs on infrastructure that CloudWLC provisions, secures with trusted HTTPS and operates. You reach it at your own address, such as northstar.cloudwlc.com. There is no hardware to buy, no virtual machine to build and no operating system to maintain.

Controllers are hosted in the European Union today, in Germany and Finland, with UK, USA and Asia-Pacific regions coming shortly. Every controller is a dedicated server for one customer, reached over trusted HTTPS, backed up automatically, kept up to date and monitored by Optaro.

Your controller runs in Hetzner data centres. Hetzner's information security management system is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2022, covering the infrastructure and operation of its Nuremberg, Falkenstein and Helsinki data centre parks. Hetzner's cloud services hold a BSI C5 Type 2 attestation, the German Federal Office for Information Security's criteria catalogue for cloud security. These certifications are held by Hetzner, our infrastructure provider, and cover the data centres and cloud platform your controller runs on.

Yes. Your compatible access points stay installed exactly where they are. Migration changes which controller manages them; it does not replace them.

No. A controller manages multiple sites, so a hotel group or a business with many branches normally runs on a single controller with each property set up as a site.

Yes. One CloudWLC account can own several controller servers — UniFi Network, cnMaestro or a mix — each with its own name, address and subscription, all visible on one dashboard. Additional controllers are useful for geographic separation, scale, different maintenance schedules or stronger isolation between estates.

Yes. Within one controller you can keep each client's estate separate: on UniFi each client is its own site with its own administrators, and on cnMaestro Managed Accounts do the same job, subject to the applicable cnMaestro software entitlement. Where you want harder separation — by client, region or maintenance window — you can run additional controllers under the same CloudWLC account.

Your controller is dedicated to you. Unrelated CloudWLC customers do not share a controller.

The CloudWLC portal walks you through installing the extension and pairing it with the controller you are migrating to. You then sign in to your existing cloud controller as you normally would, in your own browser — the extension-driven migration is built for estates moving from Cambium Cloud. The extension collects supported configuration and estate information from that session and sends it straight to your CloudWLC workspace, so there are no files to download and re-upload.

No. Sign-in stays between you and your current provider, in your own browser. CloudWLC never asks for that password, and the extension works through the session you have already opened.

Before you switch, the portal shows you the access points you selected and the address of your new controller. When you choose Switch to CloudWLC, the connected extension uses your own signed-in session to apply the supported management setting that points those access points at your new controller. The portal then reports progress as each device checks in, and flags any device that needs a closer look.

Nothing is switched until you start it, and you choose which devices are included.

Yes. The extension works through your own signed-in browser session, so keep that browser open and signed in while collection and the switch are running. The portal shows whether the extension is connected and what has completed, so you can see where things stand.

CloudWLC migrates the core of a Wi-Fi estate: supported WLANs, AP groups, devices and their related configuration. A hosted controller and a vendor's cloud service are different editions of the software, so some cloud features, device models and firmware versions behave differently or are not carried over.

You do not have to guess. After collection, the portal shows what has been prepared and lists anything that needs your attention before a single device is switched. If you rely on a specific feature, talk to us and we will check it against your estate.

Switching changes the controller that manages your access points, so treat it as a planned change. Access points reconnect to their new controller as part of the move, and behaviour can vary by model and firmware.

CloudWLC is designed to keep that change controlled: the destination is fully prepared and verified first, you choose which devices move and when, and you can start with a single site or a small group before moving the rest. We recommend switching during a quiet period for your business.

No. CloudWLC is an independent service from Optaro. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by Cambium Networks, or by any other equipment vendor named on this site. Cambium Networks, cnMaestro, Aruba, RUCKUS and UniFi are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to describe compatibility.