Which wireless network provider would you recommend?

[tj2419]

We currently have a Ruckus wireless network that is coming to the end of its life. Which providers would you recommend? Unifi, Aerohive or stick with Ruckus? Is now the right time to go for cloud controller or do you still prefer to stick with an onsite controller?

 

Just thinking out loud at the moment.

 

Thanks

[timbo343]

I would say stick to what you know. I was in the same boat about a year ago and went with the Ruckus vSZ for the price and 22 R510 APs, upgrading from a 1150 and 17 APs. I know how the system works and know how reliable the system is.

 

I would however, look at sites that are using ubiquiti. Although never played with it, i'm waiting for a friend to call me when they have some money so i can set it up for them. I think the ubiquiti stuff has come a long way and i feel they are starting to enter the business class.

 

I know of others that have it and say good things about it. Im not sure if it's up there with the big boys yet, but give it time,.i'm sure it will be.

 

Have you seen the troy hunt videos on youtube? This.will give you an idea on what it can do.

 

We stuck with the onsite controller as the cloud solution from ruckus didnt do everything we wanted it to do. Yes it looks.a good.idea but it's almost a cut down version of the controller.

Edited December 4, 2017 by timbo343

[alfatec]

Stay with the big boys. Meru for us but very expensive.

[tj2419]

We currently install Unifi to most of our clients and have found very little issues with it. The system provides very good coverage. How many APs do you currently have and is it a large site?

 

We have 30 APs at the moment that is enough to give us whole site cover. Around 850 students. We are starting to go more and more google and introducing more Chromebooks also.

 

Sixth form and staff also have access to BYOD network.

[Jawloms]

We've gone Ruckus and have no issues at all. Installed by the ever helpful and present @Net_Ctrl. Edited December 4, 2017 by Jawloms

[foofighterjim]

We have 30 APs at the moment that is enough to give us whole site cover. Around 850 students. We are starting to go more and more google and introducing more Chromebooks also.

 

Sixth form and staff also have access to BYOD network.

 

You might need to start thinking in bandwidth rather than simple coverage terms if you are looking to expand. How far are you thinking the expansion may go in the expected lifecycle of a new wireless system? What would that translate to in terms of numbers of devices and the locations they are likely to be used in. Would this impact the number, position or type of APs? Do you have the switching and PoE capacity to accommodate this? Once you know the answers to these you can then start looking at what solutions would be a good fit.

[timbo343]

The R510s take up to about 60 clients per AP. Our place is about the same size as yours but the school can take up to 1100 students and ours has metal walls.

 

The R510s are doing a sound jobs at the moment.

[rogerdnixon]

We are 1:1 with Chromebooks - so 1050 Chromebooks + BYOD for all and use Aerohive which works well and have loads of configuration options (maybe too many). Takes quite a bit of tweaking - but the APs (especially our newer AP250's) can handle loads of clients. However, its not cheap and if I was starting again, I'd give Unifi a look as it seems considerably cheaper for similar spec.

[timbo343]

We currently have a Ruckus wireless network that is coming to the end of its life. Which providers would you recommend? Unifi, Aerohive or stick with Ruckus? Is now the right time to go for cloud controller or do you still prefer to stick with an onsite controller?

 

Just thinking out loud at the moment.

 

Thanks

What ruckus controller and APs are you using at the moment?

[AlanD]

Seems an ideal opportunity to evaluate the competition. If you have never seen the meraki cloud interface..it’s worth a look...and unify offers good value for money with no subscription. I’d you are moving from “n” to “ac” and expect higher data rates keep in mind that higher QAM rates need a really good signal to noise ratio, nearly always requiring APs in the same room as clients..which might make you revise your deployment. Don’t stay with a vendor because “it’s easy” because too often vendors rely on this..and you get neither the best product nor the best price. Nearly all the vendors will lend you kit to test...because it’s a massively lucritive for them...except unify, because they are cheap enough to buy and resell..you’ll get much the same price as you pay of them on eBay.

[Priscilla110]

I'm with AT&T. Reliable and fast. Not much to complain except for the charge is a little bit high, still acceptable

[tj2419]

What ruckus controller and APs are you using at the moment?

 

We have a ZoneDirector 3050 with zf7363 access points.

 

The 5 year support is ending soon. Another avenue we are looking at is to see if it is possible to extend support.

 

With Ubiquiti is it literally buy the AP and it comes with the licences to use the cloud management? Just plug it into POE switch and away you go or are there extra licences or kit you need?

 

Thanks

[sted]

We have a ZoneDirector 3050 with zf7363 access points.

 

The 5 year support is ending soon. Another avenue we are looking at is to see if it is possible to extend support.

 

With Ubiquiti is it literally buy the AP and it comes with the licences to use the cloud management? Just plug it into POE switch and away you go or are there extra licences or kit you need?

 

Thanks

unifi install the software (or use cloud version personally id rather use local software) set it up, plug aps into poe and adopt them job done no licensing to worry about need more aps just add em and adopt/update(if needed)

[timbo343]

We have a ZoneDirector 3050 with zf7363 access points.

 

The 5 year support is ending soon. Another avenue we are looking at is to see if it is possible to extend support.

 

With Ubiquiti is it literally buy the AP and it comes with the licences to use the cloud management? Just plug it into POE switch and away you go or are there extra licences or kit you need?

 

Thanks

Software is free but you need to install it on a machine unless you buy the cloud key which is the controller.

[Andycat]

We have Meru (Fortinet now)

 

1700 ipads

300 laptops

 

Very few problems really.

 

We didn't buy the original system from them, but we've had great support and service from Switchshop (especially Michael Curry) with Fortinet/Meru stuff.

[CHM-ITServices]

I'm currently investigating Unifi as my current Meru system is cutting the mustard. I've had 5 Unifi HD APs installed in our sixth form centre for 3 months and the feedback and testing is very positive. I've found them very easy to manage and the dashboard/controller is easy to navigate and operate. I'm hoping to install the new system around February next year. We have 1400 students and 200 staff. Every staff member has a laptop and there are numerous trolleys etc.

[AlanD]

This is the kind of support for Unify that I keep hearing...they have a marketing disruptive model...."pile em high a and sell them cheap" comes to mind...although the 4x4 HD units are not that cheap they are half the price of those of competitors...and of course no on going annual charges or subscription - nor a compulsion to use expensive cloud management...

 

But despite positive comments - my advice - which I repeat in these groups regularly..is don't take anyone's word for it...get some kit in and test it (and test it in a demanding environment). There are lots of different circumstances and deployments that might not make it the right solution....

 

Given the acute shortage of money in some schools I am often surprised by how many continue to pay out annually or upgrade and extend their existing system without any real evaluation of what is available.

[timbo343]

Speak to one of the resellers of the Ubiiquiti kit to see if you can demo 3 APs, a cloud key and the gateway.

[atcoates]

We use Cisco Meraki at all my sites but if our budget was tighter we'd certainly be looking at Ubiiquiti as it seems to tick a lot of boxes. We chose Cisco Meraki as we wanted a single interface for switching, wireless and MDM. It also had to be something designed to manage multiple sites through a single login. Most people seem to be put off by the licencing but we pay about £160 per AP for 10 years.

[tj2419]

Software is free but you need to install it on a machine unless you buy the cloud key which is the controller.

 

So is it literally just the APs and the cloud key? £3,700 seems incredibly cheap for a school-wide wifi network!

 

[timbo343]

So is it literally just the APs and the cloud key? £3,700 seems incredibly cheap for a school-wide wifi network!

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]46550[/ATTACH]

 

Apologies, you may need the gateway too... https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-routing/usg/.

 

Just to let you know, i've not setup this system, all i've got to is ordering the kit - i'm still waiting for a friend to get enough funds together.

Edited December 5, 2017 by timbo343

[Dazwold1969]

We currently have a Ruckus wireless network that is coming to the end of its life. Which providers would you recommend? Unifi, Aerohive or stick with Ruckus? Is now the right time to go for cloud controller or do you still prefer to stick with an onsite controller?

 

Just thinking out loud at the moment.

 

Thanks

Hi, I would stick to Ruckus, we have R600 in KS1 and R700 in KS2, we use about 200 ipads and never have a problem with Wifi. I have one Ruckus per 2 classrooms. The walls are thick Brick built walls and I have no wifi issues or 'blackspots'. I used a company called NetworkIT24, they are very good and provided the most competitive quote without compromising on quality. IF you need any more details then give me a shout as I would highly recommend them.

Edited December 5, 2017 by Dazwold1969

[Darylrese]

Hands down, Aerohive. Brilliant interface, modular, PPSK for BYOD and works perfectly with Smoothwall if you have it. Can’t recommend enough. Not a single issue in 5 years of using it, cloud management is the way forward! Edited December 6, 2017 by Darylrese

[AlanD]

PPSK....never could see the point of it. Why invent a further way of identifying users when they could use their AD logon with radius....and then smoothwall can report by logon name without having to use captive portals or some additional method. And yes, I’m sure Aerohive works well...as does ruckus...Aruba..meraki..fortinet and unify. When you want WiFi, get some kit in to test it under a real work load...compare their management functionality...and of course compare pricing.

[synaesthesia]

You don't need the gateway.

All you need to get up and running with Unifi is the APs, nothing else. The cloud key is optional if you want to run controller in the cloud rather than a minimal software on any server you have, the gateway is good as a router, DPI and analytics.