Wireless AP's: dd-wrt vs wap4410n vs cisco 1140

[aletheuo]

I work with a school that is deploying 24 laptops for student use rather than having a dedicated computer lab. We have a very chopped up school including 6 classrooms indoors and 5 portables outside. I am needing to deploy wireless G (maybe N) across this expanse.

 

I don't think I will go with a managed solution yet but I've looked at cisco 1140 ap's for around $1000 cdn a piece. I've also considered going with linksys wrt54g's with dd-wrt (less than $100 each) and also want to know about the linksys wap4410n ($180 each). I guess what I really want to know is: are those cisco 1140's really worth 5 times the money? Any other thoughts about other products I should look at?

 

Secondly, I've heard that 24 is a maximum number per AP so am wondering if we should deploy 12 notebooks on one ssid and 12 on another. I couldn't see doing that with cisco 1140's (too costly) but it would be feasible with the wap4410n's.

 

Thanks in advance,

Jamie