Question

Changing primary access point

Asked by: anushahanna

There is one primary access point that serves all the wireless needs in the company. If we want to change to a more long-range access point, what are the steps to take and remember/know to do all the change and not have any wireless service down or left out, and do it in a timely fashion.

There are lots of print servers, range entenders connected to the Access Point now.

thanks

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Asked On
2009-10-31 at 20:01:50ID24861397
Tags

Range Extenders

,

Wireless Print Servers

Topics

Wireless Networking

,

Wireless Network Access Points

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
18

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Answers

 

by: AswadGaziPosted on 2009-10-31 at 21:01:51ID: 25712557

Hi,

Inorder to have a long range access point you might have to change your existing 1 completely and get more proffessional one. What is the make of the one you are using now? Also how much area do you want to cover, what kind of building i.e. concrete, metal all this needs to be looked into.

Netstumbler is a good wireless auditing software, it will allow you to find the dead spots and many more. It might be cheaper and easier option to have few access points spread round so that if one drops, signal can be picked up from another.

When you say there are lots of print server, do you want them to be on wireless as well? Let me know a bit more about the setup. Thanks.

 

by: anushahannaPosted on 2009-11-01 at 11:54:44ID: 25715138

The main AP is WAP54G Linksys and is doing ok with the many walls it has to cover and cross, but thinking though about changing the AP, but wondering how involved it is, so I can be prepared to do it in a weekend. There is secondary AP which broadcasts to Range Expanders. So all of them have to be changed/programmed.

Thanks

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-11-10 at 06:53:31ID: 25785948

I would personally go for something like te 3Com managed wireless switch. This allows you to sry your configuration on a central switch and manage all your access points centrally.  It's a bit pricey but you end up with an efficient centrally managed wireless network.

Something like this: http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?pathtype=purchase&tab=features&sku=3CRWX120695A

I have the bigger version running 54 access points in a school, it's reliable, you have a single wireless network and the reporting tools are also pretty good.

 

by: anushahannaPosted on 2009-11-10 at 07:03:59ID: 25786039

Wow. that seems a grand setup. Are the 54 access points only AP or also repeaters?

For example, if the primary Access Point (assuming there is a mother of all the 54 AP) is down or has to be changed, will it easy to do (redirect the wireless to a different AP)?

Thanks

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-11-10 at 07:14:30ID: 25786139

They are all access points broadcastung the same wireless network any oneof them can be taken down without effecting the others.

The only thing that gets effected is wireless in the area covered.  And because there are so many access points the ones in the surrounding areas can often have the signal power increased to minimise this.

 

by: anushahannaPosted on 2009-11-10 at 08:02:36ID: 25786657

ah.. so your APs are not inter-dependent. In our case, the second AP is reliant on the first one, and the third one relies on the second one. So I am concerned how do I change the a AP effectively and quickly without affecting the service.

thanks

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-11-10 at 08:25:46ID: 25786929

By introducing a new service like the one I have linked.

The way you have it configured is very unreliable one failed AP and your whole network goes down.

There is no way of replacing the primary AP without loosing your wireless network temporarily

 

by: anushahannaPosted on 2009-11-10 at 11:22:46ID: 25788759

if the client wants a lower priced solution, what could it be?

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-11-10 at 11:34:57ID: 25788868

I guess it depends on how important thecwireless network is?

 

by: anushahannaPosted on 2009-11-10 at 16:56:12ID: 25791575

Glen
What I meant was if the company asks for a hardware solution that costs, let's say $750 instead of $1500, do you have a recommendation for that.

thanks

 

by: AswadGaziPosted on 2009-11-10 at 18:35:10ID: 25791920

Hi Anushahanna,
I agree with demazter, the way you have the wireless set us is ideal for a business. What he sugested is ideal solution when you want to have many access points and have them managed in one place but that comes with a price. In Uk that switch cost around £1500 and that is the cheapest i could see. I had a similar situation like you where the company wanted wireless coverage but wasn't too keen on spending money. So I got 3/4 access points and some rj45 cable and set them up at several locations. Although this was painstaking as i had to run the wires to all the APs but its was a cheaper option.....

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-11-10 at 22:19:50ID: 25792668

If you went down the managed switch route you would still need to run the cables for the access points.

There are other options there is an HP product.  I cannot vouch for it as I have not personally used it but I have heard very good things about it: http://www.procurve.com/products/wireless/HP_ProCurve_MultiService_Controller_Series/overview.htm#J9325A

the main problem with the way you have it configured at present is what you have already discovered is that you cannot take 1 part of the wireless down without effecting the rest of the wireless network.

Using individual access points is an option but they will be seperate wireless network which means if you go out of range of one unit you loose your wireless network untill you system reconnects to the next preferred network.  All the AP's would have different SSID's.

With a managed system the transition from 1 access point to the other is seemless.

I also happen to know the 3Com ramgr will be changing shortly to what I understand will be a cheaper product manufactured directly by 3Com rather than a 3rd party so it may be worth holding out for that change.

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-11-11 at 00:29:59ID: 25793168

OK, I have done a bit of digging around and there are a few other options as well.  I need to tell you I do not have any personal experience with these products, the only one I have had experience with is the 3Com product (which even looking at the other brands seems to be the cheapest):

Netgear: http://www.netgear.com/Products/APsWirelessControllers/WirelessControllers/WFS709TP.aspx
Aruba: http://www.arubanetworks.com/products/wlan.php
Cisco: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps7206/index.html
Dlink: http://www.dlink.com/category/productcategories/?cid=127 (This one looks quite good - not sure about reliability though)

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-11-11 at 00:36:28ID: 25793192

Also here is the new 3Com managed Switch I mentioned in my previous post: http://www.3com.com/prod/en_EU_EMEA/detail.jsp?tab=features&sku=3CRUWX300875

Just doing a quick search it comes out at $725 but it only supports 4 Access Points.

This one supports 12: http://www.3com.com/prod/en_EU_EMEA/detail.jsp?tab=features&sku=3CRUWX301075
Which comes out around $1300 but the Access Points are cheaper than the previous version I posted.

 

by: anushahannaPosted on 2009-11-11 at 06:09:49ID: 25795175

Thanks for the detailed research. it is good to know all the option available out there now.

 

by: anushahannaPosted on 2009-11-11 at 06:10:46ID: 25795186

just curious... with the 54 AP in the school setting, have you had to do lot of maintainence or has it been minimal? did the performance exceed your expectations?

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-11-11 at 06:14:08ID: 25795217

The school has 13 buildings and 300 staff all that have their own laptops along with VoIP on the WIFI (not completely but a reasonable number of users) along with around 200 laptops that students use and wireless printing.

The coverage is complete (we are installing some external antennas now so that the playing field is covered) and maintenance is very minimal, as it's all controlled centrally as long as the switch is monitored and any alarms that are generated are resolved it seems to work well.

It's been in for nearly 4 years and only went down once (and that was my fault)

 

by: anushahannaPosted on 2009-11-11 at 07:42:49ID: 25795915

thanks for explaining the setup at the school. It is quiet a stable system.

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