cisco or cheaper model

[dzon]

Hi,

We are looking to deploy several wireless access points in our school. We have had a couple of companies in and they have suggested Cisco 1231 points costing around £381 each.

What is the difference between a dlink\belkin of the same standard (802.11 B/G) which costs around £40. Naturally, I know Cisco is a top make but can I justify putting these into our school, money is tight. Having said that, I would rather develop a secure and reliable wireless network in stages than push out a significant number of the cheaper ones only having then fail under pressure.

there could be as many as 20 laptops connecting, browsing internet, checking mail, login on to RM network etc




Any advice welcome

dzon

 

[netmanrick]

Have you looked at Thin AP's with a central security/controller. Cisco purchased Airespace,which offers
those products.

Rick Harris
SC Dept of Motor Vehicles
Network Operations

 

[dzon]

Hi Man,

Thanks for the reply. These products are even more expensive!

Basically, I am want to understand why a Dlink AP of the same technolgy (standard) is £40 and a Cisco is £350.Can I justify putting in Cisco equipment?

My options are, deploy an army of Dlinks and get the whole site up and running or deploy fewer Cisco points and gradually build up the coverage.


Cheers

 

[wcburton]

One difference is the Cisco will allow security options such as WPA with a Radius server, multiple SSID per AP using VLAN, centralised management options, rogue AP detection. Do you need all the extras?

How much time do you want to spend managing all those cheap AP's? I don't know that any of them have added the ability to validate access against a Radius server. Some have MAC filtering but that would be a nightmare to manage over all of your AP's.

 

[dput]

Another option to consider may be to look at HP or 3-Com's Wireless Access Points. They appear to be more full feathred like the Cisco's, but less expensive. Not as cheap as the home units, but more well featured.

I would be hesitant to roll out a larger wireless network using the units built for home/small business. I use those small units for my home, my church and friends home's, but not for at work.

Dan

 

[dzon]

Thanks for the input people.

I agree that I would rather use cheap dlink access points for home. Ideally I want to implement wireless access in several locations, like the staff room, library, main hall etc. I am worried about students/ staff bringing in their own laptops which could have programs like kazza etc installed.

I was thinking of connecting all access points through a firewall and then in turn to the main switch.I could disable certain ports on the firewall. Does this make sense? would it work?

Also, is there a way to stop students plugging into the hardwired data point?

your help is much appreciated

Dzon