On the cost of devices. Some enterprise vendor solutions may be nothing more than the same off-the-shelf design that the consumer models use, including using the same radio code. When there are radio code issues, the vendor goes back to Broadcom, Marvell, or Qualcomm for a fix. Other enterprise vendors go as far as to license the radio source code, where you get unique features not otherwise available with off-the-shelf designs.
That said, the enterprise WAP vendor does write the code that does all the rest of the magic in the WAP e.g. interface, controller connectivity, and so on. In general, the cost you are paying for the enterprise WAPs involves a lot more than just the hardware cost with most of it in the value/development cost of the IP (software underpinning the system). Jeff From: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu" <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> on behalf of Thomas Carter <tcar...@austincollege.edu> Reply-To: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu" <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Date: Monday, February 20, 2017 at 9:01 AM To: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu" <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] In room WIFI - second example It does bring up a problem that I’ve been complaining about for a long time – the top tier vendors don’t really offer any low cost single-room solutions, especially when it comes to ac. For example, what is there between this Mikrotik device at $50 and an Aruba AP-205H for $400? I see they have a 203H coming, but I don’t know the pricing on that. It seems the Cisco 1810 is a little better at $300, but for less than double that cost I can support 3 rooms with a traditional ceiling mount. And that doesn’t include the extra controller licensing and capacity required. From the point of view of someone with a small, challenging budget, I could get the Aruba or Cisco and then have to keep them in service for 10+ years, or go for the cheaper models and replace them every 3. I realize there are other issue, but cost is a big driver. Thomas Carter Network & Operations Manager / IT Austin College 900 North Grand Avenue Sherman, TX 75090 Phone: 903-813-2564 www.austincollege.edu<http://www.austincollege.edu/> [ttp://www.austincollege.edu/images/AusColl_Logo_Email.gif] From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Mark Elley Sent: Monday, February 20, 2017 10:24 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] In room WIFI - second example IMHO what you potentially save upfront will probably cost you dearly in maintenance, support issues and customer (dis)satisfaction. Wireless Service Manager IT Services, University of Bristol On 20 February 2017 at 14:55, Michael Blaisdell <mblaisd...@francis.edu<mailto:mblaisd...@francis.edu>> wrote: Hmm. How many rooms, buildings, and end devices, Michael? 700 rooms over 10 buildings and about 3000 end devices. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss.
