New Project RFQ info question..

[Sir]

Hi,

I have been given to go ahead for a major overhaul of our wireless in school. I have been told that they would like to investigate ip telephony as part of the install so would really like some pointers/ experience of projects. I'm not sure whether to include the voip/ ip telephony system in the whole quote. Also, I would like exampls of success stories for similar size projects (800 students/ 100 staff). Have been looking at Meraki, Aruba, Xirrus, Ruckas. Any others worth considering? Any other suggestions? Our project is planning for upward of 1000 devices connecting with some high density zones in the building. No ideas of companies to contact at the moment either; any suggestions greatly appreciated. Please no direct contact from sellers on here; I am after advice from end users! Also, I want to make sure I have everything in my RFQ's. Can anyone offer any tips here? Thanks all!

[neilmac]

Here's a blog post you might find helpful:

 

Revolution Wi-Fi: Picking the "Right" Wi-Fi Solution for Your Organization

 

NM

[timfletcher]

It would also be worth considering meru, they have good technical solutions for high density usage.

[neilmac]

Hi Sir -

 

Do you still need help with this ? I can give you some guidance the process of preparing the RFQ and selecting a vendor if you still need it.

 

NM

[Sir]

Hi NM

 

Thanks for the post. It would be great for your input. I have been reading lots in the evenings from Garner (I think it is!) and InfoTech reports. Both mention the same group of wireless systems with slightly differing recommendations.... these ones....

 

Gardner report of companies...

 

Magic Quadrant for the Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure

 

Info-tech research

 

http://www.enterasys.com/company/literature/info-tech-wlan-vendor-landscape.pdf

http://www.enterasys.com/company/literature/InfoTech-Research-Group-NAC-Vendor-Landscape.pdf

 

It gives me some ideas of what to include but your thoughts would be appreciated....

 

Since my continued investigation of my network meant switching off switches, some of the wireless pas seemed to start behaving?! Not sure if it is a coincidence but many are still showing up as networks.... Much of my network mapping is so that I have some idea of what IP addresses all this kit has. Justlogging onto one of them left me a little baffled as to why it was set o channel 8. Not a recommended channel from my limited knowledge? Some of the other settings seemed possibly wrong but I;m not exactly sure.... on reading the user manual for the model that is in my school it seems that most settings were left on the default setting. They don't have the latest firmware but the specs seemed quite reasonable (DLink 3500AP)

 

Each of them seems to broadcast 3 networks?! Anyhow, I'll try to get round to getting a InSSIDer screenshot this week as you suggested...

 

Thanks again

 

Tim

[neilmac]

OK, I wouldn't put too much faith in the Gartner quadrant. This year they decided to only score vendors who also provide switching equipment, so it's weighted to Cisco and Ruckus doesn't even feature. Vendor selection shouldn't be a consideration until you have your requirements.

 

It seems right now you are faced with two tasks, so you should separate them.

 

1) Troubleshoot your existing network. (is it worth it if you are going to upgrade ?)

2) Plan a new network.

 

Let's work in these separately.

 

In both cases, print off a plan of your site, if it's a big site print A3 or tape A4's together so you have a bigger picture to look at.

 

For troubleshooting: mark on the diagram where the AP's are and if you can, what channel they are set to.

 

For the new install: draw the boundary where you want to have coverage. Then describe the user experience. What do they want to do on the network ? Data ? Streaming video ? VoIP ? How many users ? How do you want to manage users ? How do you plan security ? How do you want to scale for the next 3 years ? Next 5 years ? Forget vendor selection for now.

 

Once you have your users and user experience described, decide on a timeline for when you want the install completed, then try and work out a budget figure. This figure is for the full project, equipment, licensing, installation, professional services. Do you want controller managed or cloud managed ? Also think about annual fees for licensing and so on that vendors will look to charge. Decide how much there is to spend each year for the next 5 years.

 

Then, and only then, should you start to consider vendors.

 

NM