Reliable wireless networking equipment?
November 10, 2008 9:32 AM Subscribe
Reliable wireless networking gear?
I'm looking to redo a small wireless installation (less than 10 APs total), starting with a no-name wireless bridge box that has to be reset every morning.
Given the budget it looks like I'm stuck with Linksys or Netgear equipment, both of which I've come to abhor over the years. I have yet to be burned by D-Link, but I've never used their wireless gear either.
So, I'm looking for people's experiences. Have you set up small low-maintainance wireless networks? Would you recommend the same gear to someone else?
Thanks.
For reference, the topology includes:
I'm looking to redo a small wireless installation (less than 10 APs total), starting with a no-name wireless bridge box that has to be reset every morning.
Given the budget it looks like I'm stuck with Linksys or Netgear equipment, both of which I've come to abhor over the years. I have yet to be burned by D-Link, but I've never used their wireless gear either.
So, I'm looking for people's experiences. Have you set up small low-maintainance wireless networks? Would you recommend the same gear to someone else?
Thanks.
For reference, the topology includes:
- One wireless bridge hop to a nearby building
- A small number of APs directly wired to a switch
- Several range extenders
I have found Mikrotik routerboards to be unstable and unreliable. That is from my own experience, YMMV.
I have had great success with Cisco Aironet access points and would highly recommend them, though they may be beyond your budget constraints.
However, I will agree that Mikrotik is easier to configure for more advanced configurations. Cisco has a bit more of a learning curve, but a basic AP setup is a breeze.
posted by doomtop at 2:11 PM on November 10, 2008
I have had great success with Cisco Aironet access points and would highly recommend them, though they may be beyond your budget constraints.
However, I will agree that Mikrotik is easier to configure for more advanced configurations. Cisco has a bit more of a learning curve, but a basic AP setup is a breeze.
posted by doomtop at 2:11 PM on November 10, 2008
dd-wrt on wrt54g is rock solid.
posted by Meg_Murry at 2:33 PM on November 10 [+] [!]
Linksys no longer supports wrt54g routers with free warrantied tech support - it's now $30 a call or so. So, pick a newer model.
Personally, I've had hellacious problems with my WRT54G, so I wouldn't recommend it anyway. FWIW.
posted by IAmBroom at 2:16 PM on November 10, 2008
posted by Meg_Murry at 2:33 PM on November 10 [+] [!]
Linksys no longer supports wrt54g routers with free warrantied tech support - it's now $30 a call or so. So, pick a newer model.
Personally, I've had hellacious problems with my WRT54G, so I wouldn't recommend it anyway. FWIW.
posted by IAmBroom at 2:16 PM on November 10, 2008
Best answer: My wrt54g with dd-wrt requires weekly resets.
Interesting link: http://www.marco.org/303
posted by aeighty at 2:35 PM on November 10, 2008
Interesting link: http://www.marco.org/303
posted by aeighty at 2:35 PM on November 10, 2008
In my humble opinion, you go with lots of the cheapest AP that have power over ethernet, running cheap software(openwrt, dd-wrt), bridged on several different channels with the same SSID. You get one really badass machine to be the master node. I suggest an actual server, perhaps one you already have in your closet (it doesn't have to be beefy, over 500mhz will do, and some serious fans) and a pci wireless card over 600mw with a big antenna on a completely other channel, running monowall or something. On this node you run heartbeat to all the other nodes, nagios, snmp or whatever health monitoring system you prefer. If any node goes down your power over ethernet switch does a hard restart of the node and you're back in action. Basically, you expect that at any given time, you'll have to send a WOL or reboot nodes if they don't respond to ping, haven't had any clients in a week, or behave funny in any way shape or form. Ideally any given client will have more than one node available at any time. You'll spend a bit more money, as well as alot more upfront administration time, however, you will have a significantly more reliable wifi experience than the most expensive hardware.
Cheap, Mini, POE AP with actual operating system on it. $39
PEO switch: you are going to have to do some research on that. All I know about is switched PDUs, and in our small office, I'm going to use some of those little mini POE adapters, plugged in to the switched PDU and then patched directly to the AP's. If any of our APs starts to misbehave, we'll use the PDU to power cycle it. I'll lookup POE managed switches to see if they offer the ability to directly power cycle whatever is connected to them. I'd imaging they do.
posted by Freen at 6:25 PM on November 10, 2008
Cheap, Mini, POE AP with actual operating system on it. $39
PEO switch: you are going to have to do some research on that. All I know about is switched PDUs, and in our small office, I'm going to use some of those little mini POE adapters, plugged in to the switched PDU and then patched directly to the AP's. If any of our APs starts to misbehave, we'll use the PDU to power cycle it. I'll lookup POE managed switches to see if they offer the ability to directly power cycle whatever is connected to them. I'd imaging they do.
posted by Freen at 6:25 PM on November 10, 2008
Response by poster: I have had great success with Cisco Aironet access points and would highly recommend them, though they may be beyond your budget constraints.
Plus I used to work for Trapeze. I'd get lynched.
Interesting link: http://www.marco.org/303
Interesting indeed...
posted by tkolar at 6:31 PM on November 10, 2008
Plus I used to work for Trapeze. I'd get lynched.
Interesting link: http://www.marco.org/303
Interesting indeed...
posted by tkolar at 6:31 PM on November 10, 2008
I have not used them, but I have used quite a few other ubiquiti products in the past, with great success.
posted by Freen at 1:52 PM on November 11, 2008
posted by Freen at 1:52 PM on November 11, 2008
Response by poster: Thanks everyone.
Unfortunately the infrastructure hat gets passed too often in this environment to get too exotic, otherwise I'd try some of the more interesting suggestions here.
As it is, I think I'll reluctantly follow the advice on the marco link and go with the mass market crap APs and expect to replace one every six months or so.
Oh, and pass on the infrastructure hat as quickly as possible :-)
Sigh.
posted by tkolar at 3:45 PM on November 13, 2008
Unfortunately the infrastructure hat gets passed too often in this environment to get too exotic, otherwise I'd try some of the more interesting suggestions here.
As it is, I think I'll reluctantly follow the advice on the marco link and go with the mass market crap APs and expect to replace one every six months or so.
Oh, and pass on the infrastructure hat as quickly as possible :-)
Sigh.
posted by tkolar at 3:45 PM on November 13, 2008
« Older What are some certifications/qualifications I can... | Easy remote assistance involving Windows 98... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Meg_Murry at 11:33 AM on November 10, 2008