Lifetime warranty is great, but it still costs time/money to have an IT staff member mount/dismount the AP and send it back for replacement. All things being equal, I'd rather mount the AP once, and the next time I visit it will be when it is life-cycled and replaced with the latest standard.
Jeff >>> Todd Lane <t...@email.unc.edu> 4/11/2010 5:46 PM >>> We don't worry about our Aruba APs. They're covered by a lifetime warranty unlike the Cisco APs we were buying. Aruba Lifetime Warranty* The following Aruba indoor enterprise-grade wireless access points are covered by Aruba’s Lifetime Warranty if purchased after May 21, 2009: ● AP-60 ● AP-61 ● AP-65 ● AP-65WB ● AP-70 ● AP-105 ● AP-120 ● AP-120abg ● AP-121 ● AP-121abg ● AP-124 ● AP-124abg ● AP-125 ● AP-125abg ● RAP-5 ● RAP-5WN * Aruba Lifetime Warranty coverage remains in place for as long as you own the product, up to five years following Aruba announcement of end-of-sale of that product. Todd Lane University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill On 4/11/2010 6:31 PM, Jeffrey Sessler wrote: > Ethan, > > Where I would suggest spending some evaluation time is on the AP > construction. Having had time to evaluate both the Aruba and Cisco AP's, > there were doubts as to the Aruba's life-span when placed in our > residential halls. The design (this was their 802.11n product), relied > on venting and convection cooling, and it was unknown what would happen > as dust-bunnies and other obstructions settled on those vents. Even in > our "lab" the Aruba AP got hot, so much so that the metal shield on the > ethernet connector was uncomfortable to the touch. The Cisco AP's on the > other hand were 100% sealed, stayed cool, and the large aluminum casing > is the heat sink. Between the two, it was felt the Cisco would be > maintenance free while the Aruba might require attention (dusting off) > from time to time. Point being, as you look at Aruba, HP, Meru, etc. > make sure to keep the AP's design and planned deployment locations in > mind. > > Jeff > > >>>> Ethan Sommer<somm...@gac.edu> 4/2/2010 6:25 PM>>> >>>> > As I said in another post we selected our "finalists" based on what > others colleges seem happy with (which by a wide margin seems to be > mostly cisco, aruba, and meru) and HP because we already have a HP > infrastructure. > > My assumption is that all of you are smart and there is a reason you > all > chose to go with those products. > > We are on a tight budget, so based on initial pricing we eliminated > Cisco and Meru who seemed to be the most expensive (plus we don't like > > cisco for a number of other reasons). > > (As an aside, after posting here meru contacted me _and my boss_, which > > I believe is not allowed under this list's rules. In any case, I told > them if they could provide a quote for a 200 dual radio complete system > > in the same ballpark as the other systems we're looking at, then we'll > > talk.) > > Our next steps are > * To get quotes > * And bring in the systems to do test runs in real life conditions. > (We're going to try each out in one of the dorms and the library, each > > of which currently have 10 APs.) > > If we aren't in love with any of those systems, we'll widen our > search. > > We have very limited resources, so if one comes in much cheaper than > the > others the question will be "is that system good enough for us." > Otherwise we'll pick the system that we think will work best for us. > > Based on talking with schools running Aruba and Meraki, I think either > > would be a great move forward for us. I've yet to hear of a school who > > chose either and regretted it. > > Ethan > > > > Mike Hydra wrote: > >> What I personally find interesting is the wide choice not from a >> manufacturing point of view but more from a Wi-Fi technology point of >> > >> view. >> >> Aruba – Controller based (aka controller based) >> All data goes through the controller, centralized architecture. >> >> HP – decentralized (Controller in not directly essential) >> Data path is separated from the management path. >> >> Meraki – Cloud computing >> Centralized Cloud, not having to own controller hardware inside your >> > >> own network. >> >> All three very different solutions. >> >> I’m looking forward to follow this email threat with the comments, >> > >> thanks for sharing. >> I would recommend writing down a proof of concept and invite the >> vendors of your choice. >> In this way you’ve tested your requirement (out of your proof on >> concept) therefore convinced around the solution you buy is the right >> > one. > >> Good luck... >> >> >> Mike Hydra >> >> Cell: +31 6 29 07 18 96 >> Tel: +31 252 62 61 20 >> Fax: +31 252 68 88 37 >> E-mail: mhy...@2fast4wireless.com >> Skype: Flying-Wireless-Dutchman >> Web: www.2fast4wireless.com >> >> >> >> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >> *From: *Peter P Morrissey<ppmor...@syr.edu> >> *Reply-To: *The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv >> <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> >> *Date: *Fri, 2 Apr 2010 22:47:26 +0200 >> *To: *<WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> >> *Subject: *Re: Aruba vs HP vs Meraki >> >> OK, so I'll ask. Why did you eliminate Cisco already? >> Pete M. >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv >> [mailto:wireless-...@listserv.educause.edu] On Behalf Of Ethan >> > Sommer > >> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 2:21 PM >> To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU >> Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Aruba vs HP vs Meraki >> >> We are considering replacing our 200+ AP wireless infrastructure with >> > a > >> controller based 802.11n system. >> >> I believe we have narrowed it down to Aruba, HP Procurve (we use HP >> switch gear), and Meraki. >> >> I have two questions: >> >> 1. Are there any hidden costs we should watch out for with any of >> > these > >> (particularly Aruba.) Will we hit major costs other than the up >> > front > >> cost for the APs and the controllers? >> >> 2. I know a lot of schools are very happily using Aruba, but I >> > haven't > >> heard of any schools using HP and very few using Meraki. >> >> Are there any schools who have gone with Aruba and regretted it? If >> so, why? >> >> Are there any schools out there using HP Procurve (formerly >> > Colubrius) > >> or Merkai? What do you think of them? Did you have any surprises >> > after > >> you deployed? >> >> >> Ethan >> >> -- >> Ethan Sommer >> Associate Director of Core Services >> 507-933-7042 >> somm...@gustavus.edu >> >> ********** >> 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/. >> >> >> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >> The information in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally >> privileged. If you have received this e-mail in error, please reply >> > to > >> its sender indicating "received in error" in the subject line, then >> delete the e-mail and destroy any copies of it. 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