Simon,
Heavy APs cost almost as much as some of the light ones. You then
need to add the cost of a controller. You are not missing anything. There
is no direct cost benefit.
Functionally speaking, however, you are missing a lot. Seamless
roaming, single platform management, ease of troubleshooting, a plethora of
other cool stuff, and a topology indifferent installation - meaning that
these APs use DHCP/DNS & Tunnels to communicate with their controller,
regardless of what individual VLAN they may be on (you need to allow this
through access-lists, etc.).
And yes, while there may be little to do, save for some firmware
upgrades on the heavy APs, imagine doing that on 100+ APs as individuals.
I weighed the same pros & cons, and decided to implement
Bluesocket's wireless solution. I haven't looked back since.
Feel free to contact me directly if I can be of any more help.
________________________________
________________________________
Fishel Erps
Sr. Network & Infrastructure Engineer
School of VISUAL ARTS
Desk: 212-592-2416
Cell: 646-201-2766
Fax: 212-592-2243
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
________________________________
________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Kissler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 2:08 PM
To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] LWAPP [was: [WIRELESS-LAN] Upgrade 1200 to lwapp]
Okay, so I've been trying to figure this out and figured I may as well
ask. Where is the cost benefit of the using the controllers and LWAPPs.
The controllers aren't cheap and the APs don't get cheaper even though
they are "light" ? I assume there are some management benefits in this
kind of solution, but have you found them to be worth the money ? Are
there other benefits that aren't as obvious to me that are ?
I like the idea of making management easier and just like any
technologist like shiny new toys, but in the context of overall funding
priorities with aging network equipment in places and other challenges
find it hard to justify since our APs mostly just work and require
little touching beyond initial config and occasional firmware upgrades.
What about this am I missing ?
-Simon
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