Router in AP mode vs Wireless AP on ceiling

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Router in AP mode vs Wireless AP on ceiling - best coverage?

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Crowdie

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#1919904 14-Dec-2017 22:09

johny99: I’m glad that the xclaim x1 I got was only $30, not that impressed with it to say the least.

There is some confusion caused by Xclaim being made by Ruckus. The dynamic beamforming that made Ruckus is not included in the Xclaim product line - it only has the mandatory transmit beamforming required for 802.11ac certification.

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michaelmurfy

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#1919905 14-Dec-2017 22:09

Starscream122:

Is enterprise gear a lot better then consumer stuff?

I have a guide in my signature but generally enterprise grade gear is much better than the consumer stuff. I recommend the Grandstream GWN7610 since it is easy to configure, doesn't look bad and kicks the living crap out of consumer grade products in that pricerange.

Just do it, you won't regret it. Just make sure you buy a PoE adaptor with it.

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Crowdie

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#1919908 14-Dec-2017 22:14

michaelmurfy:

I have a guide in my signature but generally enterprise grade gear is much better than the consumer stuff. I recommend the Grandstream GWN7610 since it is easy to configure, doesn't look bad and kicks the living crap out of consumer grade products in that pricerange.

I am going to disagree with you here as Grandstream is certainly not enterprise grade. It is a SME/SOHO product.

The lines in the datasheet that no enterprise vendor would put include:

Up to 300-meter coverage range
Support 450+ concurrent WiFi client devices
Advanced QoS to ensure real-time performance of low-latency applications
Embedded controller allows GWN7600LR to auto-discover, auto-provision and manage up to 30 GWN series WiFi APs in a network

Starscream122

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#1919911 14-Dec-2017 22:24

I'll just stick with my RT-AC68U I think. the computers are connected via Ethernet anyway and our Wifi isin't that bad..

Crowdie

228 posts

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#1919913 14-Dec-2017 22:30

Wireless is about mobility. If your computers are connected via Ethernet keep them there. The wireless can be used for mobile devices without Ethernet support (smartphones, tablets, etc.).

Starscream122

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#1919915 14-Dec-2017 22:40

The strange thing is before we got the computer connected via Ethernet it was on Wifi with a 2.4/5Ghz PCIE card and it would sometimes connect to the AC network but often it would only be on N and sometimes you couldn't load any web pages at all... I am guessing this was just different interference at different times of the day?

Crowdie

228 posts

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#1919916 14-Dec-2017 22:44

In your wireless card's driver did you select 5 GHz as the preferred band? If so the wireless card would normally select the 5 GHz band over the 2.4 GHz band.

dt

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#1919917 14-Dec-2017 22:48

networkn:

Why?

What's so much better?

The xclaim died.. Good AP but the xi-3s are hard to find now and expensive to replace again.

Starscream122

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#1919918 14-Dec-2017 22:48

I left it as default settings

michaelmurfy

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#1919921 14-Dec-2017 22:51

Crowdie:
I am going to disagree with you here as Grandstream is certainly not enterprise grade. It is a SME/SOHO product. <snip>

You're incorrect here. It is indeed an "enterprise grade" product at a lower price range and has all the features of one. It is designed for all markets and they've got controller software coming early next year to make it suitable for enterprise deployments with thousands of access points also much like the UniFi range. Since these access points can actually function as-is without a dedicated controller also it makes sense to include those specs since it is quite a good feature for home / small business to have an embedded controller. The QoS is for Wireless IP phones (which Grandstream sell also) however is turned off by default.

Crowdie

228 posts

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#1919923 14-Dec-2017 22:53

If you have a 2.4/5 GHz wireless source I would recommend setting the preferred band to 5 GHz and testing if you have adequate coverage in the required areas.

Crowdie

228 posts

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#1920267 15-Dec-2017 15:48

michaelmurfy:

You're incorrect here. It is indeed an "enterprise grade" product at a lower price range and has all the features of one. It is designed for all markets and they've got controller software coming early next year to make it suitable for enterprise deployments with thousands of access points also much like the UniFi range.

Again I am going to disagree with you. There is a difference between "can be used in a business" and "enterprise grade".

No enterprise grade access point is designed for 250+ clients. The reason is simple - contention. If you have 200 users on 5 GHz and 50 on 2.4 GHz that means you have 200 devices constantly challenging for medium access. For time sensitive business applications, such as Skype for Business, that would be a nightmare.

No enterprise grade access point would quote 175 metre client support. A client on channel 36 175 metres from the radio would experience a 91 dB free space loss - assuming no obstructions in the way. They would have an extremely low throughput and adversely affect the performance of other users.

No enterprise grade access point would list QoS as a feature. It is just part of the 802.11n/ac standard and a major requirement for enterprise wireless. Listing it as a feature is the equivalent of a real estate agent listing a door as one of a house's features.

The Grandstream access points are obviously targeted at SME and small businesses. They are not targeted at Enterprise users.

networkn

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#1920270 15-Dec-2017 15:54

I would also like to add, at the risk of irritating a mod, that central management of WAP is not something that gets added later, it's the first part of the product design and everything else is built on top.

If they are adding it later, it might have a commercial grade radio inside, but it's more likely a SME device.

Again, not saying they aren't really good units.

sbiddle

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#1920281 15-Dec-2017 16:15

networkn:

I would also like to add, at the risk of irritating a mod, that central management of WAP is not something that gets added later, it's the first part of the product design and everything else is built on top.

If they are adding it later, it might have a commercial grade radio inside, but it's more likely a SME device.

Again, not saying they aren't really good units.

They have management now - but only in the AP itself. On each site you can have a primary and secondary AP that act as a controller allowing up to 30 AP's to be managed onsite.

A software and cloud based controller is what is coming next year to allow for multi site management and 30+ AP's at a site.

I won one of these AP's from Grandstream last week. Performance wise so far I'm happy with it, but I bit my tongue at their presentation when they quoted 450+ users because that's quite simply laughable. Even quoting such a figure immediately makes the product seem amateurish.

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