HMCTech Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 We are looking into putting in wireless networking, and rather than doing it Ad-hoc we are looking at a whole system in one. The NetGear sSmart Wireless switch looks good, for 16 access points, but I dont know if anyone has had any good or bad experiances with them? Or perhaps not NetGear someone else, like Cisco? But I imagine Cisco will be alot more in depth perhaps beyond our needs.
NathG Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 Aruba - Bluesocket - Cisco. We have direct relationships with all 3, so if you need any information, please let me know and I will contact them direct for you, and copy you on the emails. You can ask as many questions as you want. if you are really serious about this project, I can also get a bidding war between them going, to get you the best prices, and involve you all the way along. Let me know if we can help. Rgds, Nathan.
Haptic Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 We are looking into putting in wireless networking, and rather than doing it Ad-hoc we are looking at a whole system in one. The NetGear sSmart Wireless switch looks good, for 16 access points, but I dont know if anyone has had any good or bad experiances with them? Or perhaps not NetGear someone else, like Cisco? But I imagine Cisco will be alot more in depth perhaps beyond our needs. You should have a look at Extricom Wireless Solution which is the only solution where the AP's wont interfere with each other garunteed , Our sister company T James Wired and Wireless Communications specialises in Extricom for education and would glady perform a site survey free of charge and consult with you on the best product line. If you pm me your details I can get one of our guy's to have a chat with you,
Ric_ Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 I have a BlueSocket solution from Westwood... it works well. Ruckus looks great too mind. The Extricom is an interesting idea but its major drawback is that the APs and controllers all have to be directly wired together (i.e. no IP links) so if you have multiple cabs and multiple buildings it is prohibitively expensive. The Netgear stuff isn't all that great. IIRC, the maximum number of APs in a SOLUTION is 32 (or 16 with a failover controller)!!! The featureset isn't as good as others either. Cisco is a PITA to purchase IMHO. Everything needs a separate license. Adding some APs, buy a license; RADIUS authentication, buy a license; etc. It soon gets messy and annoying - I much prefer a solution with a single cost for all the features (for unlimited users).
Haptic Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 (edited) I have a BlueSocket solution from Westwood... it works well. Ruckus looks great too mind. The Extricom is an interesting idea but its major drawback is that the APs and controllers all have to be directly wired together (i.e. no IP links) so if you have multiple cabs and multiple buildings it is prohibitively expensive. The Netgear stuff isn't all that great. IIRC, the maximum number of APs in a SOLUTION is 32 (or 16 with a failover controller)!!! The featureset isn't as good as others either. Cisco is a PITA to purchase IMHO. Everything needs a separate license. Adding some APs, buy a license; RADIUS authentication, buy a license; etc. It soon gets messy and annoying - I much prefer a solution with a single cost for all the features (for unlimited users). With Extricom yes the AP's have to be hard wired back to the controller but as long as all the controllers are on the same IP network there are non issues at all, Edited January 9, 2009 by Haptic
Ric_ Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 With Extricom yes the AP's have to be hard wired back to the controller but as long as all the controllers are on the same IP network there are non issues at all, Sorry... I didn't explain myself very well. Multiple controllers can be used but the controllers are the expensive part of the solution. The APs are relatively cheap but if you have multiple cabs (or multiple cabs in multiple buildings like me) the price soon creeps up by thousands!
Haptic Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 (edited) Sorry... I didn't explain myself very well. Multiple controllers can be used but the controllers are the expensive part of the solution. The APs are relatively cheap but if you have multiple cabs (or multiple cabs in multiple buildings like me) the price soon creeps up by thousands! Agreed it is a more expensive solution but it is more flexible than Ruckus,Cisco,Aruba,Bluesock also it is the only product on the market that run voip seamlesley. Edited January 9, 2009 by Haptic
MarkPower Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 We are looking into putting in wireless networking, and rather than doing it Ad-hoc we are looking at a whole system in one. The NetGear sSmart Wireless switch looks good, for 16 access points, but I dont know if anyone has had any good or bad experiances with them? Or perhaps not NetGear someone else, like Cisco? But I imagine Cisco will be alot more in depth perhaps beyond our needs. Hi AlexPilot I hope you may have a chance to visit Bett next week and you can have a look at Ruckus Wirless, we at Net-Ctrl will be sharing the stand with Edugeek and displaying the product all week. It cost nothing to have a look and you never know you may even like it Cheers Mark
Domino Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 also it is the only product on the market that run voip seamlesley. could you expand on that statment......?
MarkPower Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 I could but them I would have to kill you as the rest is top secret Hope your coming to Bett next week be good to see you
john Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 Ruckus Kit FTW I keep recommending it and specing it but seem to move on before I actually get it fully installed and use it But its been bought Hey Ho, I know its good and the dogs balls so give it a go, as for VOIP, I know the Ruckus kit works fine with VOIP as well.
chilbs Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 I have seen an Extricom system work where Linksys, Netgear and Ruckus have failed. We even had a guarantee from a ruckus provider to undercut an Extricom solution but the ruckus system did not work and ruckus could not work out why. Yes Extricom is expensive and the AP's currently have to be connected directly to the controller but in my opinion is the best solution. The bit about running voip seamlessly is that the phones don't see individual access points they see the switch so anywhere that the phone is connected to the switch there is never a AP to AP handoff so there is no need for fast roaming and other solutions to aid voip. I have heard that other providers are going to be producing similar systems soon but I don't have any details. Chilbs
dhicks Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 Bunch of sissys the lot of you - I'm planning to re-write the firmware on our Linksys wireless access points and have them managed by an open source application. -- David Hicks
Quackers Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 With these centrally managed systems, what happens if the central controller fails? Does the whole WLAN fail, and then cost £££ for a new controller? Leaving you with no Wireless Network at all? Instead of many access points simply configured individually then if that fails its only 1 small area without coverage and is cheap to fix?
Ric_ Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 With these centrally managed systems, what happens if the central controller fails? Does the whole WLAN fail, and then cost £££ for a new controller? Leaving you with no Wireless Network at all? Looking at it simplistically... yes. However, you can of course use redundant controllers. The advantages of a managed system far outweigh standalone APs. Benefits such as central management, automagic channel selection and radio adjustments, IDS, RF containment, authentication and hotspot abilities are just a few of the BlueSocket features for instance!
HMCTech Posted January 9, 2009 Author Posted January 9, 2009 Thanks for everyone who has shared an opinion, for those that contacted me or supplied an offer I am still considering all options and will get back as soon as decisions are made!
spc-rocket Posted January 10, 2009 Posted January 10, 2009 With these centrally managed systems, what happens if the central controller fails? Does the whole WLAN fail, and then cost £££ for a new controller? Leaving you with no Wireless Network at all? Instead of many access points simply configured individually then if that fails its only 1 small area without coverage and is cheap to fix? That is true, but surely if you are going to go for the management system with central controller you would have some hardware support and replacement contract so they swap it out. Ash.
Oops_my_bad Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 (edited) Would any of these controllers be able to work with existing access points? Ie I'm thinking of replacing our 3com controller as it's coming to capacity but ALL our 100+ access points are 3com AP2750's (thin AP's). Perhaps the firmware can just be "modifed"? I could buy another 3com controller but it's end of life Edited January 11, 2009 by Oops_my_bad
Ric_ Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 @Oops_my_bad: I know that the BlueSocket kit works with a number of different manufacturers' APs but I'm not sure about the thin 3COM ones. 1
meastaugh1 Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Anyone got an experience/opinions of HP's Multiservice Mobility offering, which I gather is a result of their acquisition of Colubris? Any ideas how it compares to the offerings from vendors already mentioned?
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