Advice on building a wireless lab

[MrWu]

Hi all,

I am tasked to setup 2 wireless setups (netgear and unifi) ready for the users to test with thier devices.

Due to timescales we are not able ro setup VLANs and bring in new switches and lso setup NAP/Radius etc

So my plan is to building a phyiscally seperate network with its own switches(where all the APs would be connected to) and run. Windows server acting as DHCP in a workgroup. The test network would be in turn connected to our Sonicwall E5500 as the gateway and content filtering.

I think setting up a few UniFi will be ok for this test, since I can use a software controller to setup SSIDs etc.

With the Netgears though (WNDAP350) without a controller what do you reckon the best way to set 6 of these up in a windows dhcp workgroup to test internet access? Do those APs need to have unique SSIDs in this case?

Cheers all!

[DarrenG]

Typically you would give them all the same SSID to make moving around with client devices simpler, bare in mind however that controller-less (also know as autonomous) Access Points as a rule will not support any kind of roaming capability (This also goes for the UniFi access points as the UniFi server software is not really a controller but more a way of configuring the APs and monitoring them while the software is running). Your client device will of course decide at some threshold to jump ship to a closer access point but this is far from seamless and can lead to problems such as sticky client. This is not so much of a problem when the client devices are likely to be stationary as you would only want them to migrate to another AP if the workload on the original AP was getting high and there were other APs within range that were under a low workload (again this is not supported if there is no controller present). looking at the cost of the Netgear APs, if they are within budget you wouldn't need much more of a budget to go for a hardware controller based solution.

That said I would sat the easiest option is to configure your first AP and then save the config. You can then just upload the config to each of the next 5 in turn and just change the IP if using static IPs

Hope this helps

[MrWu]

Thanks DarrenG

Well, Poe switches ordered, 9 UniFis, poe adaptors,HP Microserver(for workgroup DHCP) and 6 Netgear WANP350s...be a busy easter !

I have also read they are pricing the UniFi Pro at MSRP of $229 each.

[m25man]

I have also read they are pricing the UniFi Pro at MSRP of $229 each.

Yes, that's going to upset the apple cart somewhat, can't wait.

[MrWu]

Yes, that's going to upset the apple cart somewhat, can't wait.

Indeed, its a shame I can't get hold of one for the easter break, i have also read in the UniFi forums that they are planning to add more features to the software controller.

It makes me wonder whether Ubiquiti could develop their software controller to offer load balancing and other functions..that would be awesome.

[m25man]

The controller balances just fine, try it.
When 2.3.0 appears on the website you will know the Pro's are available.

[DarrenG]

Thanks DarrenG

Well, Poe switches ordered, 9 UniFis, poe adaptors,HP Microserver(for workgroup DHCP) and 6 Netgear WANP350s...be a busy easter !

I have also read they are pricing the UniFi Pro at MSRP of $229 each.

No problem :-) please let us know how you get on with your comparison, be interesting to see how they compare!

[m25man]

UniFi and switch VLAN configuration - Ubiquiti Wiki