Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Meru Networks
When you purchase the controller, you license it for a specific number of APs. Each controller family has a maximum number of APs it can support. http://www.merunetworks.com/products/controllers.php has the datasheets on each of the controllers and maximum APs it supports. On 11/6/08 11:15 AM, Tupker, Mike [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: How is licensing done with Meru? Mike Tupker Systems Administrator Mount Mercy College Office: (319) 363-1323 x1401 Mobile: (319) 538-1644 If you need assistance with an computer issue please contact the helpdesk at x4357 or http://help.mtmercy.edu. From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Barber, Matt Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 7:09 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Meru Networks We have 6 controllers, MC5000s and an MC3000, and around 750 AP320s, with more coming into some new buildings. We have been running 11n for over a year and have been extremely happy with Meru. They are moving very quickly on adding new features and every version of software has been better than the last. If you have any specific questions, I would be happy to answer them on or off the list. Matt Barber Network Analyst / PC Support Morrisville State College 315-684-6053 From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Duran Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 5:17 PM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Meru Networks We are also interested in your experience with the product and any information share. Thanks a million, John V. Duran Network Engineer University of New Mexico Information Technology Services Ph: (505) 249-7890 Fax: (505) 277-8101 Patel, Amish [EMAIL PROTECTED] 11/5/2008 3:01 PM Is anyone using or have experience with Meru Networks wireless controllers or AP¹s? If so I would like to talk you about your experience with the product. You can email me directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thank you in advance, Amish Patel Systems Operations Engineer Information Technology Services Office: (312)427-2737 x491 Mobile: (312)287-1690 eMail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.jmls.edu/ http://www.jmls.edu/ http://www.linkedin.com/in/patel33 ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. Tim Winders | Associate Dean of Information Technology | South Plains College ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. image.gif
Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Meru Networks user group
I¹ll join, but I don¹t have a facebook account, so I¹ll have to get that done first. On 8/15/08 10:27 AM, Nathan Hay [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There is no listserv for Meru networks customers and potential customers, but I know some people (including myself) have wanted one for a while. Rather than creating a listserv on our own servers, I've decided to try an experiment. I've created a Meru Networks user group on Facebook. This is a closed group, so I have to approve people who join. If you would like to join, please search for the group and request to join. When you send your request. Please clearly state your relationship to Meru (Meru customer, Meru re-seller, Meru employee, potential Meru customer, etc). This will be on the honor system. Please let me know if you would be willing to help me out as an admin also. Admins will basically help manage the membership and monitor the posts. The discussion board, wall, photos, and posted items are enabled, so you can upload install pictures, post questions for discussion, etc. If no one joins, then I'll know this experiment isn't going to work. Nathan Nathan P. Hay Network Engineer Computer Services Cedarville University www.cedarville.edu http://www.cedarville.edu/ ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. Tim Winders | Associate Dean of Information Technology | South Plains College ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
RE: [WIRELESS-LAN] 802.11n WPA2/AES requirement
We're looking at the same thing. The only problem, is the native Windows XP supplicant does not support WPA2/AES. XP SP3 adds this compatibility. So, for now, we have added a new SSID which is not broadcast and is WPA2/AES. We are manually setting up clients to connect to that to test N and A/B/G interoperability. So far, things seem to be working well. I expect to leave our configuration in this mode for at least another year, then we'll flip/flop the SSIDs for the WPA2/AES is broadcast and the WPA/TKIP is not. Then after another year, I expect to phase out the WPA/TKIP SSID completely. Tim Winders | Associate Dean of Information Technology | South Plains College From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Nathan Hay Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 7:10 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] 802.11n WPA2/AES requirement From my testing and from the systems engineer of the vendor's equipment that I was testing, an 802.11n client with WPA2/AES can connect at 802.11n rates, but if that same 802.11n client connects using WPA/TKIP, it gets a/b/g rates even though client and AP are both 802.11n. So yes, an N client can connect to an N AP with WPA/TKIP or WPA2/AES, but the max data rate will be different (54 vs. 300). Based on this, we plan to migrate to WPA2/AES on our current a/b/g network to prepare for the mixed environment we will have next school year. We plan to deploy 802.11n in a new building that opens next school year and maybe in one or two other buildings, but the majority of our buildings (including all dorms) will be a/b/g. Hope that helps, Nathan Nathan P. Hay Network Engineer Computer Services Cedarville University www.cedarville.edu http://www.cedarville.edu/ Keith Moores [EMAIL PROTECTED] 3/16/2008 4:04 PM Just wondering what encryption type those of you that have started moving to (testing with) 802.11n APs are using? I'm trying to confirm that N clients connecting to N APs must use WPA2/ AES to connect with encryption. If an N AP accepts both WPA/TKIP and WPA2/AES can an N client connect set to either albeit only at 802.11n HT rates when using WPA2/AES? -Keith Keith Moores mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Network S! ystems Senior Engineer ITC-Communications and Systems Division University of Virginia, ITC-2015 Ivy RdPhone (434) 924-0621 Box 400324, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4324 Fax(434) 982-4715 ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. http://www.educause.edu/groups/ ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
RE: [WIRELESS-LAN] Meru and Macs
We have Meru running virtual cell. We have the latest 3.4GA code. We haven't seen any issues with out Mac clients. We don't have that many Mac computers, so it might not be a good test... Tim Winders | Associate Dean of Information Technology | South Plains College -Original Message- From: Brandon Pinsky [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 12:38 PM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Meru and Macs Have any of the Meru users in the group noticed any performance differences and/or problems with Macs? More specifically, Meru users running their Virtual Cell technology... Thanks, BJ Pinsky Columbia University IT (CUIT) Network Infrastructure ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
RE: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cisco vs. Meru article
Each controller has it's own web-based interface for management and configuration. For smaller installations, this should be good enough. When you get to larger installations with multiple controllers and require location and visualization you'll want to look at the Application Suite product. You have to license the different pieces of the product separately, so make sure your sales rep does a good job of explaining the feature set of each component so you license everything you need. As far as effective/buggy. I'm not sure what you mean. It's a java application front end with a dedicated server on the backend. We haven't had any troubles with the product. I don't have the visualization piece. It wasn't available the last I checked. I see it on the website, so it might be available now. Tim Winders | Associate Dean of Information Technology | South Plains College From: Lee H Badman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 10:15 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cisco vs. Meru article A while back, Meru did not yet have a central management console, but it was pending while we decided on which thin AP road to go down. Can anyone comment on how effective/buggy Meru's management platform is? Lee H. Badman Wireless/Network Engineer KC2IYK, CWNA/CWSP Information Technology and Services Syracuse University 315 443-3003 From: Winders, Timothy A [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 11:06 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cisco vs. Meru article We did just the same thing this year. We had a relatively small Cisco AP installation, with about 25 APs. We needed to go to full campus coverage would have to forklift the Cisco gear. We went with Meru and I've never looked back. Our wired gear is all Cisco, but we've been very pleased with the Meru wireless. I never used the Cisco wireless controllers, so I can't compare, but, the Meru gear is very easy to setup and deploy. We have a single SSID (WPA/TKIP) and clients connect to different VLANs based on their RADIUS authentication (authenticating against AD). The Network Computing article came out after we purchased our gear. It didn't bother me and in practice, I haven't experienced the claims Cisco made. We see rogues pop up on the network. We have the Meru rogue detection enabled, but mitigation disabled. So, when a rogue turns up, we track it down. It's usually a student in their dorm room who brought it with them, or wasn't able to authenticate to our wireless network, so installed their own router. In practice, these work (i.e. no interference from the Meru equipment) but we shut them down anyway and help the student get authenticated to our network. We do occasionally see legitimate rogues identified by the Meru equipment. This is usually a surrounding business. After the NC article came out, I did contact one of them to make sure they weren't experiencing any problems. Everything was fine. I expect that if we enabled rogue mitigation it would cause them troubles. J If we do decide to go that way, there is a way to exempt/authorize non-Meru APs so they don't get blasted. I have not tested this, so I would work with those local businesses to make sure we don't cause them any troubles. Tim Winders | Associate Dean of Information Technology | South Plains College From: Jamie Savage [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 9:50 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cisco vs. Meru article Hi, The attached article was in the May 28th issue of Network Computing. Regarding Meru vs. Cisco and the possibility of interference with co-located APs. I'd be interested in any commentary. We're currently a Cisco shop (autonomous APs) and realize we're heading for a forklift wireless change in the near future (most of our fat APs can't be converted to thin). Even if Meru violates the 802.11 standard (as claimed by Cisco), as we control the airspace on campus, I guess we don't care if we cause interference issues with devices (ie..rogues) that shouldn't be there in the first place. ...comments anyone?...thx...J James Savage York University Senior Communications Tech. 108 Steacie Building [EMAIL PROTECTED]4700 Keele Street ph: 416-736-2100 ext. 22605Toronto, Ontario fax: 416-736-5701M3J 1P3, CANADA ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ** Participation and subscription information
RE: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cisco vs. Meru article
Kevin - 25 APs is getting on the heavy side for managing them individually. We had around that number of Cisco FAT APs and management was very difficult. I didn't have an easy way to determine usage, upgrade software, update configurations or do troubleshooting. Going to a controller based system has been wonderful. Meru makes a controller for up to 30 access points before you step up into bigger gear. I'm not familiar with Aruba, but I expect they do as well. I highly recommend you go to a centrally managed system, rather than trying to manage your APs individually. Tim Winders | Associate Dean of Information Technology | South Plains College -Original Message- From: Kevin Whitney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 1:34 PM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cisco vs. Meru article May be a little off subject but I would like to post question out there as it seems there are some happy Meru users here on this forum.. Any thoughts or advice on implementing/selecting a wireless system for use in a High School environment ? Specifically, would love any feedback on pros/cons of a central controller based system (ie -Meru, Aruba, etc) vs installing Fat AP's around our building. While our needs are quite simple I am sure, compared to the size of other user's who have posted, I can see there is a great deal of knowledge and experience in this area. Basic site surveys conducted here have indicated we need somewhere around 25 access points to provide coverage throughout our building. Appreciate any input on this subject. Kevin Whitney District Technology Coordinator Cresskill Public Schools 1 Lincoln Drive Cresskill, NJ 07626 201-541-4162 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cresskillboe.k12.nj.us -Original Message- From: Dave Molta [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 12:21 PM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cisco vs. Meru article Debbie, They were Intel 2915 clients. I have some pretty dense spreadsheets covering various permutations of clients and infrastructure if you are interested in seeing raw results. We didn't come away from this with any firm conclusions about what's good and what's bad (I guess we've learned our lesson about pointing the finger too soon!). What was most interesting to us was the fact that there was so much variation, which is something we didn't expect from such a mature standard. dm -Original Message- From: debbie fligor [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 11:59 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cisco vs. Meru article On Jun 14, 2007, at 10:24, Dave Molta wrote: Just to elaborate a bit, the article James sent around was not the original Meru-Cisco feature story but rather a column that reports on results of subsequent testing. In this column, I reported three things. First, Cisco was unsuccessful in getting the Wi-Fi Alliance to rescind Meru's certification. Since WFA certifies interoperability rather than standards compliance, this is not proof that Meru isn't stretching standards a bit but it still casts a cloud over Cisco's allegations. Second, I reported findings from subsequent tests where we added Aruba to the mix and found that Cisco's performance also cratered when co-located with Aruba gear. Again, that could indicate that Aruba is also somehow playing foul as well (Cisco speculated that they might be using a variation of PCF interframe spacing, though Aruba denied it) but it doesn't look that way to me. Finally, we decided to re-run these interference tests with different mixes of clients, using Atheros, Broadcom, and Intel chipsets. We found significant differences in the performance results. Atheros-based clients performed best. Something I noticed in the article was that Meru did the worst with Intel chipsets, but which chipset wasn't mentioned. The 3945 Intel micro code bug makes them work very poorly with Meru and causes some problems with other vendors APs. We've been waiting for an update from Intel, but still don't have it. What Intel has done is ceased to sell that chipset -- this worries me that there wont be a microcode fix, but at least we wont have new equipment coming in with that card. So if the testing was with all 3945 cards, I don't think that accurately indicates Meru doesn't work well with Intel in general. Dave do you happen to know what the cards were? For those not following the problem with the 3945 cards, there is a bug in the micro code that causes it to crash if it sees out-of-order packets from the same AP. I heard this from an Intel employee on a conference call with them and Meru. It had been replicated in Intel's state-side offices and finally at their
