Recommendations for Enterprise WAP

H

Hiltonizer

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 5, 2004
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Can anyone recommend a good model WAP for enterprise use?

I have an office of 100 users, and figure I'll need 2 access points because the building is long and narrow. I want people to be able to walk from one end of the building to the other, without having to manually change wireless networks. The 2 access points should work together.

They should be able to handle quite a bit of load, as they will probably have in excess of 20 people on them at times.

All the latest security features are a must.

Price isn't an issue.

Thanks!
 
I did like the looks of the Cisco's, but I wasn't a fan of the fact that they need a controller on the back end. Is that something that's going to be required of all enterprise class WAP's? Or even to achieve my goal of a single wireless network?

I just about 5 minutes after creating this thread stumbled on the HP Procurve Wireless Access Point 420

Will this do what I need? I don't see anywhere that it requires a back end controller.
 
Was just going to recommend the HP ProCurve.
It can run solo...or it can run centrally managed from a software package that comes on a CD in the box.
 
When using multiple access points, roaming can be a problem. Most things will work ok, but I have had issues with certain sensitive protocols, like telnet. The controller fixes this problem. Plus it allows for a bunch of other cool features like centralized management, captive portal, guest mode SSID, etc. I am not familiar with the HP product line, but the first time I implemented a Cisco solution, I fell in love with it. For any business with multiple access points, it is the first thing I recommend.
 
Another vote for Cisco. I would seriously recommend looking at least 4 APs, preferably 6, without doing a formal site survey. A controller is very nice but is not necessary for good roaming if you setup EAP-FAST or something like that on the APs. If you decide not to go with a controller then I would recommend the 1131AG series from Cisco. With the controller you can do rogue AP and client detection and suppression, the captive portal that MorfiusX mentioned, secure guest internet access. It's well worth the extra cost and then you don't have to manage all the different APs and you make sure they all have the appropriate configuration, etc.
 
Captain Colonoscopy said:
Another vote for Cisco. I would seriously recommend looking at least 4 APs, preferably 6, without doing a formal site survey. A controller is very nice but is not necessary for good roaming if you setup EAP-FAST or something like that on the APs. If you decide not to go with a controller then I would recommend the 1131AG series from Cisco. With the controller you can do rogue AP and client detection and suppression, the captive portal that MorfiusX mentioned, secure guest internet access. It's well worth the extra cost and then you don't have to manage all the different APs and you make sure they all have the appropriate configuration, etc.
Click to expand...

QFT. I have a 4404 controller with about 90 cisco APs. The only way to go.
 
Just wired up 3, Cisco 1252's a couple weeks back....amazing range, gigabit ethernet, 802.11n, dual radios, and centrally managed if necessary...though I can't see the real need to make the additional investment in a central controller for only two units.
 
Forgot to answer...yes according to HPs PDFs on the 420...it does support seamless roaming.

Lifetime warranty too.

The ones I've put in...rock solid, and fast. Haven't rebooted them since installation day.
 
Hunterzyph said:
Just wired up 3, Cisco 1252's a couple weeks back....amazing range, gigabit ethernet, 802.11n, dual radios, and centrally managed if necessary...though I can't see the real need to make the additional investment in a central controller for only two units.
Click to expand...

Good to hear. My summer project is to upgrade about 25 of my 1231s to the 1252s. Are you using PoE? If so what switch or injector? 3750? Are you using BOTH radios or just one? I am hoping the better range will mean less APs.

Hunter is right though. Buying a controller for a few APs is really not worth it.
 
Teecee said:
Hunter is right though. Buying a controller for a few APs is really not worth it.
Click to expand...

Yes, but he said he was going to have 100 users. For that, I would at least put in 4 APs. The controller will automatically load balance the clients as well.
 
True. The load balancing is nice. You can even put an AP in a room and say anyone outside that room use another AP to provide plenty of density.
 
Teecee said:
Good to hear. My summer project is to upgrade about 25 of my 1231s to the 1252s. Are you using PoE? If so what switch or injector? 3750? Are you using BOTH radios or just one? I am hoping the better range will mean less APs.
Click to expand...

Using injectors (Cisco's own legacy PoE isn't supported), only using the 2.4GHz radios for now as we didn't want to make the investment in the additional antennas/no 5.8GHz end-users. Honestly we've got three AP's and we've had to drop the output on each by 50%. Only have about 25 clients throughout the whole facility though.
 
MorfiusX said:
Yes, but he said he was going to have 100 users. For that, I would at least put in 4 APs. The controller will automatically load balance the clients as well.
Click to expand...

Very good point. I'm going to tuck this little nugget away =)
 
Teecee said:
QFT. I have a 4404 controller with about 90 cisco APs. The only way to go.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm..... Procurve makes a very 'robust' (never thought I'd actually use that word) controller-based AP solution as well, that is cheaper than the Cisco solution, has a lifetime warrantly, and supports all of the features that he will likely use. I would recommend taking a look at this as well, if you have a chance.

I would actually recommend 6 APs instead of just 4.... that is of course, if you means 20 users per AP, or 20 on wireless total? 15 users per AP is about as far as you want to go, unless you don't care about bandwidth. If it's just 20 total then I think 3 would be sufficient; 1 at each end of the hall and one in the middle. 3 is a good number as well, as you can utilize only the non-overlapping channels.

The roaming is a piece of cake. I'm assuming all of your wireless users will be on the same IP subnet... so L2 can be easily accomplished by enabling the same SSID name and key on each AP. No controller necessary.

Procurve 420 NA is a good solution, as was mentioned, also the 530, which has a few more features, such as dual radio support and support for multiple broadcast SSIDs, which 420 does not.
 
Slackmaster_Flex said:
The roaming is a piece of cake. I'm assuming all of your wireless users will be on the same IP subnet... so L2 can be easily accomplished by enabling the same SSID name and key on each AP. No controller necessary.
Click to expand...

This isn't entirely accurate. Some protocols are sensitive to the brief connection drop that occurs while switching access points. Telnet is one of those. This was a problem at a hospital client of mine. With stand alone APs, when a user roamed, the telnet session for their EMR app would drop.

With a controller based solution, the controller keeps the session and can dynamically shift that session among APs in real time.

It really depends on the type of traffic the wireless will host. Normal web browsing and most client/server apps work OK. But to be accurate, you must say that it depends on the type of traffic.
 
Slackmaster_Flex said:
Procurve 420 NA is a good solution, as was mentioned, also the 530, which has a few more features, such as dual radio support and support for multiple broadcast SSIDs, which 420 does not.
Click to expand...

The 420 does allow up to 8 separate SSIDs

It can handle up to 128 concurrent clients.

Most of the business level access points..even inexpensive entry level ones like the DLink DWL series...they allow roaming, they do load balancing, even the 89 dollar DLink DWL3140 which is powered and managed by the DES1228p units can handle up to 96 concurrent clients.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
The 420 does allow up to 8 separate SSIDs

It can handle up to 128 concurrent clients.

Most of the business level access points..even inexpensive entry level ones like the DLink DWL series...they allow roaming, they do load balancing, even the 89 dollar DLink DWL3140 which is powered and managed by the DES1228p units can handle up to 96 concurrent clients.
Click to expand...

Yes. However, as I said, it only supports a one broadcast BSSID/SSID

And yes it's also true that technically it can support up to 128 associated clients, but would you really want to divide up your 54mbps shared medium 128 ways? In my experience, 25 clients is the max you want associated with a single AP, and that's if they are basically don't just internet browsing.... for a fairly busy network running mission-critical apps, I would say 10.
 
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