Setting up a Laptop Trolley

[thom]

When you all talk about IAS do you mean the Microsoft Server version or an implementation that comes with you access points?

[Ric_]

@thom: Why aren't you using your managed 3COM wifi network for this?

IAS is indeed the MS implementation.

[eean]

I went for the Bluesocket that has everything out of the box... you could always use a Bluesocket controller with your Cisco APs

Can Bluesocket do cleaver loadbalancing? i.e. At the moment, all 15 laptops will connect to the AP with the loudest signal, thus giving them 1/15 of the bandwidth each. Does bluesocket mean that most will connect, but some may connect to one further away, but still achieving similar throughput? Can it do this with any AP or only its own (we have dlink aps, so we're lucky they work at all!). The new dlink f/w can set a maximum limit for users, so when you reach, say 10, they will connect to a different AP. But this is no good because, depending where they are, there may not be a suitable AP in range. (+ It crashed when I switched it on, so it's off now).
We're only a primary, so WPA-PSK is fine for us, so I don't need this fancy security stuff. I just dream of the load balancing! How much does it cost?

Surely all this could be achieved with software on the clients? Just a connection app that looks at throughput instead of signal?

[Ric_]

@eean: To be honest, you probably won't be able to afford the gear since the controllers are rather pricey. They work best with the Bluesocket APs too but they will work with a number of other manufacturers' APs (enterprise level 3COM and Cisco for example).

The Bluesocket controller allows you to configure VLANs, bandwidth priorities na dthe maximum number of connections to an AP too.

[thom]

Why aren't you using your managed 3COM wifi network for this?

The signal from the 3 com wi-fi is'nt strong enough to reach all of the places the laptops are going to be used in. There are only 12 APs and we would need another switch to use any more.

[HodgeHi]

I set mine up the slow way. We did not have a RIS server at the time and all laptops aren't joined to the domain (the boss wanted it this way) so i set up one and configured the laptops locking them down locally using gpedit then created an image using ghost, then ghosted the other 15.

I then set up the Netgear wgr614v5 router so as the connect straight to the internet through the gateway and each laptop having a static IP.

Probably not the best way to do it though but it works.