***02/28/2011 update at post 39***
Our wireless network here needs some upgrading and I have been asked to see if I can come up with a fairly cheap solution. Since we are moving soon, the wireless needs of the new office may differ from this office, so that is why they do not want me to spend much money. I however, know what I am talking about, and I know that I will be able to take the equipment from this office and move it to the new office and use it there (which is going to be somewhat of a smaller office) but they do not really care and/or understand.
The current problems that exist are that the wireless is not that reliable. People drop a lot, and it says they are connected when they are not. A lot of times I have to just turn off their wireless card and turn it back on and let it reconnect. I know that a wired connection is best, but try getting 55 users to switch off their wireless and plug in every time they sit at their desk...
The WAPs right now are all different models of Linksys & Netgear, with the one to the far right being a Linksys WAP11
. I am assuming that these consumer grade APs are overloaded with user sessions and that there is channel interference, but I really don't know much about the specifics of how these things operate.
I know from the other thread I bumped yesterday that the channels could be changed and that may improve performance, because right now they are not in the best honeycomb fashion that is the standard for wireless networks. I actually just did this site survey the other day with Ekahau Heat Mapper and it seems to have done a pretty good job.
So I'm looking for advice on how to go about this task, whether it be rip and replace the entire thing or see if I can patch it up. I would rather rip and replace, but the budget is not going to be that large unless I can justify using it at the new office (for which I don't even have a floor plan).
As far as what I am thinking, I think I should re-arrange the channels on each AP so that they are in honeycomb form, as well as upgrade the firmware (if applicable) on all APs. That is the least I can do. Other than that, I would consider what I saw in the other thread, 5x Cisco WAP 2000 and one Cisco SRW208P.
I've also seen http://meraki.com/ and was curious if anyone had any experience with that technology.
This is a smaller business and we don't even have an IT budget that I can play with; everything is present and persuade in order to get approval. That being said, I don't even know how much a "reliable" wireless network for a 55 user office would cost in the first place.
Thanks again
Our wireless network here needs some upgrading and I have been asked to see if I can come up with a fairly cheap solution. Since we are moving soon, the wireless needs of the new office may differ from this office, so that is why they do not want me to spend much money. I however, know what I am talking about, and I know that I will be able to take the equipment from this office and move it to the new office and use it there (which is going to be somewhat of a smaller office) but they do not really care and/or understand.
The current problems that exist are that the wireless is not that reliable. People drop a lot, and it says they are connected when they are not. A lot of times I have to just turn off their wireless card and turn it back on and let it reconnect. I know that a wired connection is best, but try getting 55 users to switch off their wireless and plug in every time they sit at their desk...
The WAPs right now are all different models of Linksys & Netgear, with the one to the far right being a Linksys WAP11
I know from the other thread I bumped yesterday that the channels could be changed and that may improve performance, because right now they are not in the best honeycomb fashion that is the standard for wireless networks. I actually just did this site survey the other day with Ekahau Heat Mapper and it seems to have done a pretty good job.
So I'm looking for advice on how to go about this task, whether it be rip and replace the entire thing or see if I can patch it up. I would rather rip and replace, but the budget is not going to be that large unless I can justify using it at the new office (for which I don't even have a floor plan).
As far as what I am thinking, I think I should re-arrange the channels on each AP so that they are in honeycomb form, as well as upgrade the firmware (if applicable) on all APs. That is the least I can do. Other than that, I would consider what I saw in the other thread, 5x Cisco WAP 2000 and one Cisco SRW208P.
I've also seen http://meraki.com/ and was curious if anyone had any experience with that technology.
This is a smaller business and we don't even have an IT budget that I can play with; everything is present and persuade in order to get approval. That being said, I don't even know how much a "reliable" wireless network for a 55 user office would cost in the first place.
Thanks again
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