On Fri, 2 Apr 2010, Ethan Sommer wrote:
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?
When we purchased some aruba gear the PEF was licensed by user. We ended
up having to upgrade this license as usage increased. This is supposed to
be changing in their new license model.
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?
No significant regrets. We have ~600 aruba waps and 3 m3 controllers. We
have also deployed cisco and others over the years. I don't believe we
have ever had a hardware failure of an aruba wap and few if any cisco wap
failures. These units are installed in dorms, libraries, dining halls,
labs, etc. I can't say that we go out of our way to install them in piles
of lint, oily rags, or battle with them. If I was that concerned about
the location I would use a protective enclosure. If a wifi-equipment-only
battle breaks out I claim the vivato panel for a shield.
Software stability, failover, and scaling top the list of my concerns
when looking at a controller based solutions. When we deployed "fat"
waps, a misbehaving unit only annoyed a small number of customers. A bad
OS update to a controller can make for a loooong day.
Jason
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
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/* Jason Cash IT/Network and Systems Services
University of Delaware, Newark Delaware
e:c...@udel.edu v: 302-831-0461 */
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