Wireless Advice

[Theldron]

Hi all,

 

We are quite a small secondary school, around 330 students, but have a capacity for 450 and we are looking for Wireless system. The plan is to have 30 laptops, eventually going up to 90 for the students (30 in each block). The teachers all have laptops around 45, plus 6 iPads and 26 android tablets.

 

We don't allow BYOD but might be something we allow later. We would need guest access as well. We dont have any RADIUS servers.

 

There is a fair distance between each building, and teachers tend to move from building without switching off their laptops.

 

I have looked at Ubiquiti which I have a fair bit of experience with I think they are brilliant, but I have looked at Ruckus as well. Which would be recommended?

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Cheers

Sean

[Arreks]

Unfortunately this is one of those questions that will get a large amount of responses all saying different things because people work with different things.

 

I work with Meraki so I know how it works and I can say it's good and I'll recommend it, but everyone equally may use something else like Ruckus etc.

 

Your best bet is to get in contact with the companies or resellers and get some more information about each brand, perhaps ask for a demo (some have web portals) or demo units.

[GuyJD]

I have a netgear managed system here but I wouldn't recommend it as the AP's keep dropping connections when you get more than 10 devices connected to one AP, I installed a Ubiquiti AC system recently in a school I worked in and really couldn't find a fault with it, if I had the budget I'd replace all our AP's here with Ubiquity AP's. Edited June 5, 2015 by GuyJD
I can't type good

[Net-Ctrl]

@Arreks sums it all up pretty well.

 

Request some demo kit from the manufacturers you're interested in, and put each one through it's paces in your environment. Also consider what you will be using the wireless for and make sure each solution ticks all the boxes and has the technology to deliver what you require, not only for right now, but a few years down the line.

 

If you're not already engaged with a Ruckus reseller, i can speak to the sales team and see if we can get some demo kit out for you to test. If you are already engaged with someone, speak to them about getting your hands on some and i'm sure they will help out

 

If you had any questions about Ruckus, please feel free to fire me a PM and i'll aim to get answers back to you asap.

[Wave9_Andy]

Unfortunately this is one of those questions that will get a large amount of responses all saying different things because people work with different things.

 

I work with Meraki so I know how it works and I can say it's good and I'll recommend it, but everyone equally may use something else like Ruckus etc.

 

Your best bet is to get in contact with the companies or resellers and get some more information about each brand, perhaps ask for a demo (some have web portals) or demo units.

 

 

I agree with this this. You need to start with the established enterprise brands but the key thing with wireless isn't so much the vendor but the way it is designed, configured and integrated with your existing network. Beyond that it's the features and tools that will allow you to manage and troubleshoot and keep it up to date and running well. It's a 5 to 7 year investment so the day 1 project of getting it in and working is only the start.

 

We like Meraki as an overall package as it has some great built in tools and includes and enterprise MDM solution for up to 100 devices too. If you would like Meraki AP (to keep) and some help in setting up the dashboard so you can evaluate it then send me a PM.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Wave9_Andy