Upgrading wireless bit by bit

[newpersn]

Just looking for information on how i can upgrade our old netgear wireless system. (A/B/G)

 

Can i start upgrading the system with the current system in place.. (the new wireless would be on a another vlan)

 

Can i start buying a few access points at a time and add until finish?

 

The management side of the system? How does that work? we currently have 2 netgear controllers (16AP's each)

 

Dont really know what to look for in wireless systems.

[Dos_Box]

Moving to Wireless Networks forum.

[Meldrew]

This is how we did it. We used to have a d-Link system and when we discovered this was the cause of network drives not getting mapped in issues, we bit by bit replaced each AP with Unifi kit. I expected conflicts, but was actually fine. We used exactly the same settings too.

 

Meldrew.

[Roberto]

Just looking for information on how i can upgrade our old netgear wireless system. (A/B/G)

 

Can i start upgrading the system with the current system in place.. (the new wireless would be on a another vlan)

 

Can i start buying a few access points at a time and add until finish?

 

The management side of the system? How does that work? we currently have 2 netgear controllers (16AP's each)

 

Dont really know what to look for in wireless systems.

 

The outcome depends on three things - your budget, how disruptive a gradual change can be to T&L, and what, precisely, you think the issue at hand actually is.

 

So the questions you need to be asking yourself and SLT are:

 

What should your new network be? Are you fundamentally happy with what you have, except that it's old and slow? Do you currently have your entire campus covered with APs and do you anticipate a large growth in the number of devices you need to support? What services need to be running over the wireless network? 20 laptops spread around a campus that browse and edit documents on a shared network area will not need the sort of system you will want if you're actually talking about 5 tightly-packed classrooms with 20 tablets in each room streaming video.

 

Do you have a problem with Netgear and would therefore like to move to another platform? If you're happy with Netgear, will the two controllers support more up-to-date APs than the current ones? If you're near the limits (or supported life) of the current controllers then this may be an opportunity to consider a totally different platform but this will probably incur a larger cost, but if you have lots of wiggle-room with the current controllers then you may be able to upgrade the APs connected to it for a relatively small outlay.

 

If you move to a new system, and wish to do so gradually, this will probably affect the ability of people to 'roam' throughout the building painlessly. How much of a requirement do you have here? A gradual change will require you to support the two networks, enrol devices onto both networks, etc, too, and this will increase the cost of supporting the network.

Edited March 27, 2016 by Roberto

[ricki]

Hi

 

To answer the question answer the following questions

1 What do I want my wifi to do for the next 5 years?

2 What is the likely usage going to be?

3 How much tolerence will I get while swapping over

4 Is my network segmented eg one controller and access points in one building or area and the other in another

5 How much money will I have and is it in bulk or come over a number of years

6 Do i want Netgear?

7 What problems am I trying to solve.

 

Normally wifi is changed all in one go and if poe swiches are already fitted and high level points and wiring are in its not the longest job to do but is expensive

 

When I looked at this last Ruckus and Muru are very popular for different reasons

 

Think and plan carefully. Different vlans are great at solving some problems but can cause others like access to apple tvs. You might also need to plan your backbone to cope with the network demands it puts on you backbone so think carefully

 

Richard

[ricki]

Sorry forgot what is going to connect to the wifi and how old is it. What does it use a,b,g or n.

 

If you only have older kit which is most important the kit or the wifi. Devices are easier to justify to Slt.

 

Richard

[newpersn]

Bit of an bump.

 

Current wireless is A/B/G

 

Most (99%) of our laptops/Tablets are N or even AC (Laptops, Ipads ect)

Current wireless is all on 1vlan (2xcontrollers and APs)

Any new wireless equipment will be on a new vlan. (Keep running out of address on our current wireless vlan and cant extend due to something else on the next vlan)

Looking at some of the new wireless you can buy "packs of"

Currently have POE switches in each data cab.

 

Trying to improve our wireless access. We cant have more than 10-15 laptops out they will take the lesson to load the students profiles.

[ricki]

Get a.full.site.and backbone survey done Richard

[twin--turbo]

Having used a number of solutions.

 

For Education and large density I would go with Meru.

 

If you can't afford the cost then expect complaints and expect to regret not going with a high end system.

 

Personally I would avoid running two systems at the same time. Wi-Fi is noisy enough at the best of times and if two not compatible systems are figiting for the air then it's going to give you a poor opinion of the new system.

 

TT

 

P.S.... We have Meraki at our office, if the Meru Quote had landed a couple of weeks earlier then it probably would have got the gig and we are not high density.

[Net-Ctrl]

If you were interested in hearing about what Ruckus could offer and would like to discuss your plans with one of our engineers, please let me know and we could advise on the best route to take

[ITGURU]

This is how we did it. We used to have a d-Link system and when we discovered this was the cause of network drives not getting mapped in issues, we bit by bit replaced each AP with Unifi kit. I expected conflicts, but was actually fine. We used exactly the same settings too.

 

Meldrew.

 

Hi

 

What D-Link APs were you using? We seem to have the same issue here, getting the odd drives which don't map. Think might put a case in to D-Link if it's definitely their AP issue.

[ricki]

Muru is good but expensive look at ruckus it's good and cost effective