Chris, You have some good points here. You are incorrect on the power setting per controller comment. Cisco's Radio Resource Management (RRM or Auto-RF) can change the power differentially across APs, and APs can be selectively removed from global RRM control for power and channel changes, and individually assigned static power levels and channels. The Cisco WCS relies on AP Templates for individual AP configuration changes, including SSID restriction. I would like to see better AP-grouping features for provisioning changes to specific environments/areas, but right now the answer to this has been is "buy another controller." AirWave uses a more container-based vs. template-based model which would seem to allow for better group-level control (and their reporting is a lot better). If you have sites with a lot of requirement diversity, you may want to consider the separate chassis models as opp. to WiSM blades. Cisco and Aruba have their own flavor of RF management (Aruba's is Adaptive Radio Management or ARM). To borrow Lee's phrase, there are nuances to each vendors execution of this feature, and it can make a great deal of difference to a great many clients. Take this feature with a large grain of salt (maybe with some lemon and tequila as well), as "YMMV" has never been more appropriate. Its each vendor to their own methods, as this is not yet standardized. Pay attention to what each vendor does to protect and optimize client performance (in particular, around Radio Management and QoS). Be advised that Cisco APs with detachable antennas (1230, 1240, 1250) enforce strict limits on transmit power in 5GHz (as low as 11dB on several channels), much more than what others do I believe. If you are trying to achieve equal size cells in 2.4 and 5GHz, this means higher gain antennas if you go with the detachable option. Bruce T. Johnson | Network Engineer | Partners Healthcare Network Engineering | 617.726.9662 | Pager: 31633 | bjohns...@partners.org
________________________________ From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv on behalf of Christopher DeSmit Sent: Wed 1/28/2009 10:02 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Comments about Aruba and Cisco???? Ken, You might want to consider the management side of the project. With Cisco you can connect directly to the controller-WISM, but they recommend you use another product called WCS. Things to watch out for are in the following: 1. I am not sure with Aruba, But Cisco deployment can account for more AP's, depending on which specification you survey against.. 2. Another thing to consider is the uplink trunked ports needed for both devices. For Instance, the Cisco Controller 4404 desires to have 4 of the ports port channeled to the core. The amount of trunked, Port channeled, ports is a consideration in both installations. 3. If you have any existing Standalone Wireless devices, these can cause Spanning-tree loops if close to the new access points due to the client connecting to both. Ciscos solution is to turn the power down on the standalone AP's so there is a gap between new and existing wireless. 4. Cisco Controllers, although they are trying to fix this, have one power setting per controller. What this means is that if a building absorbs the radio waves more or less than the others, the controller sets the AP Power all the same. This will cause you to have gaps in your coverage. A survey might take this into account, but when the controller power setting is changed, it affects all the Access point that are controlled by it. Some buildings are like a sponge while others are not. I may not be totally accurate of all the statements above, but this is meant to spark some thought for you to consider... Good Luck! Thanks, Christopher DeSmit University of North Carolina Pembroke- Division of Information Technology Network Security Specialist 910-521-6260 chris.des...@uncp.edu From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:wireless-...@listserv.educause.edu] On Behalf Of Johnson, Ken Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 9:00 PM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Comments about Aruba and Cisco???? All, I am a member of an evaluation team at Florida State University considering Cisco and Aruba wireless products. We are focusing on LWAPs and controllers. For evaluation configuration and pricing purposes, we have requested from the companies information and pricing relating to configurations with 128 and 1200 APs. The Aruba LWAP is the AP125 while Cisco LWAP is the recently release 1142. The Aruba controller is the M3 while the Cisco product is the WiSM. There are other aspects, too. I know many of you have experience with Cisco and Aruba and have gone through similar experiences. I am interested in learning about any observations and experiences you have that we should consider in our efforts. Please send me your thoughts. Thanks. Ken ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ken Johnson Director, Information Technology FSU College of Medicine 1115 Call Street Tallahassee, FL 32306-4300 e-mail: ken.john...@med.fsu.edu phone: 850.644.9396 cell: 850.443.7300 fax: 850.644.5584 "Please note: Florida has very broad public records laws. Most written communications to or from state/university employees and students are public records and available to the public and media upon request. Your e-mail communications may therefore be subject to public disclosure." ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. The information in this e-mail is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed. If you believe this e-mail was sent to you in error and the e-mail contains patient information, please contact the Partners Compliance HelpLine at http://www.partners.org/complianceline . If the e-mail was sent to you in error but does not contain patient information, please contact the sender and properly dispose of the e-mail. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
