dgsmith Posted June 25, 2009 Posted June 25, 2009 A few more of our Planet WAPs have called it a day so we need to replace them with something. Besides Planet, we have 2 HP 10ag WAPs (got them for a good price, too expensive now) and the rest are D-Link 2100/7100 AP (7100 too expensive for us now too). Our wireless network is very basic and they just literally are scattered across the main classrooms and hooked into the nearest switch - there is no central management, so can get a nightmare. In an ideal world, we would be looking for a managed wireless system, but unless someone can sell us one in exchange for a tin of beans, it aint going to happen! (by the way, how much do these managed wireless systems like ruckus actually cost, for say, 16 access points, if we decided to propose it in the future)? To my original query, should we just stick with dlink and try and keep some consistancy? I like linksys equipment and their WAP54G is cheaper - good/better alternative? Any reason not to mix and match even further than we already have? Lastly, in the event a generous millionaire donates money to the school and we can afford managed wireless (amongst other things..), are there any access points which could be used or are also designed to operate on a managed wireless system that can be bought for your average day-to-day use (such as the type we seek now), or are managed wireless APs unique to the system they're designed for, effectively making our current WAPs obsolete? Extremely budget tight here (in case the above didn't make that clear ) so realistically, anything over £60 (and £50 is pushing it) we'd struggle to consider.
chilbs Posted June 25, 2009 Posted June 25, 2009 The business class netgear access points can have firmware loaded such that they will operate on netgears managed solution. The Ruckus ones can also run in standalone mode but are more than your budget. However If you did have enough money to go managed you probably would go with Extricom, Meru, Aruba, Ruckus, etc. Cell based access points are the cheap end of the market, careful placement and channel selection is required for your network to run efficiently. In my opinion the linksys are reasonable for what you pay for them and seem stable compared to other access points at this end of the market. Chilbs
Aggy Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 A few more of our Planet WAPs have called it a day so we need to replace them with something. Besides Planet, we have 2 HP 10ag WAPs (got them for a good price, too expensive now) and the rest are D-Link 2100/7100 AP (7100 too expensive for us now too). Our wireless network is very basic and they just literally are scattered across the main classrooms and hooked into the nearest switch - there is no central management, so can get a nightmare. In an ideal world, we would be looking for a managed wireless system, but unless someone can sell us one in exchange for a tin of beans, it aint going to happen! (by the way, how much do these managed wireless systems like ruckus actually cost, for say, 16 access points, if we decided to propose it in the future)? To my original query, should we just stick with dlink and try and keep some consistancy? I like linksys equipment and their WAP54G is cheaper - good/better alternative? Any reason not to mix and match even further than we already have? Lastly, in the event a generous millionaire donates money to the school and we can afford managed wireless (amongst other things..), are there any access points which could be used or are also designed to operate on a managed wireless system that can be bought for your average day-to-day use (such as the type we seek now), or are managed wireless APs unique to the system they're designed for, effectively making our current WAPs obsolete? Extremely budget tight here (in case the above didn't make that clear ) so realistically, anything over £60 (and £50 is pushing it) we'd struggle to consider. Hi dgsmith I would be more than happy to discuss further with you Ruckus Wireless, please give me a call whenever you free or send me site plan of your school on which I would be able to gave you rough idea of costing at first. Aggy 01473 281 211:D [email protected]
Haptic Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 Also available to quote on Ruckus Fella we have proven ourselves to save money on Ruckus Wireless for educationa against all other resellers including gold partners.
dgsmith Posted June 26, 2009 Author Posted June 26, 2009 Prices on Ruckus is secondary, as certainly it wont be financially viable for at least 12 months (there is absolutely no money whatsoever available), so really I just wanted a guide per quantity of access points and what other costs are involved, for future consideration. I saw there is the usual d-link 2100 and an open-source AP which is cheaper - is the latter capable of running on a wireless managed system if it is customisable? It may be that we just buy a load of dlink or linksys standard WAPs, as we really are budget restrained!
Aggy Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 Prices on Ruckus is secondary, as certainly it wont be financially viable for at least 12 months (there is absolutely no money whatsoever available), so really I just wanted a guide per quantity of access points and what other costs are involved, for future consideration. I saw there is the usual d-link 2100 and an open-source AP which is cheaper - is the latter capable of running on a wireless managed system if it is customisable? It may be that we just buy a load of dlink or linksys standard WAPs, as we really are budget restrained! Hi dgsmith, Please could you be so kind and send me site plan of your school on my email. I strongly believe that Ruckus Wireless would be able to shock you not only with great features but also with pricing. I m more than happy to attach some literature for you Aggy [email protected] 01473 281 211
ahuxham Posted June 26, 2009 Posted June 26, 2009 (edited) WAP54G - Cheap, cheerful and do the job very well. You can DD-WRT them as well and tie them all into Nagios or similar client given you a managed solution. All free as well, apart from the hardware that is. Takes a bit of time to get it all setup, but if you want to provide a fairish solution with a tin of beans, the above is one possible solution DD-WRT :: About the project as well as Open WRT http://openwrt.org/ Plenty to choose from Open WRT has a whole article somewhere explaining flashing all the hardware and creating a managed solution, web based etc etc. Edited June 26, 2009 by ahuxham
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