I have to chime in here...
We've deployed close to 2000 Aruba APs at Emory (AP60/61's) over the last 5
years. In that time, we've had less than 10 fail because of hardware. I've
had something like 20 more damaged in the ResHalls - mostly someone threw a
ball and broke the flipper antenna on the AP61. We've been very happy with the
reliability of the Aruba products. They do hold up well in an academic (read
hostile) environment.
Oh - those failed APs were all purchased before the lifetime warranty. We
found that even with our "self-insurance" for APs our maintenance costs were
quite low.
We are now deploying AP105s as we move to 802.11n across campus and are finding
that, even though they are light in weight, they're sturdy devices that should
hold up even better than our AP61's have.
>>-> Stan Brooks - CWNA/CWSP
Emory University
University Technology Services
404.727.0226
AIM/Y!/Twitter: WLANstan
MSN: wlans...@hotmail.com
GoogleTalk: wlans...@gmail.com
-----Original Message-----
From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:wireless-...@listserv.educause.edu] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Sessler
Sent: Sunday, April 11, 2010 9:24 PM
To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Aruba vs HP vs Meraki
Lifetime warranty is great, but it still costs time/money to have an IT
staff member mount/dismount the AP and send it back for replacement. All
things being equal, I'd rather mount the AP once, and the next time I
visit it will be when it is life-cycled and replaced with the latest
standard.
Jeff
>>> Todd Lane <t...@email.unc.edu> 4/11/2010 5:46 PM >>>
We don't worry about our Aruba APs. They're covered by a lifetime
warranty unlike the Cisco APs we were buying.
Aruba Lifetime Warranty*
The following Aruba indoor enterprise-grade wireless access points are
covered by Aruba’s Lifetime Warranty if purchased after May 21,
2009:
● AP-60
● AP-61
● AP-65
● AP-65WB
● AP-70
● AP-105
● AP-120
● AP-120abg
● AP-121
● AP-121abg
● AP-124
● AP-124abg
● AP-125
● AP-125abg
● RAP-5
● RAP-5WN
* Aruba Lifetime Warranty coverage remains in place for as long as you
own the product, up to five years following Aruba announcement of
end-of-sale of that product.
Todd Lane
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
On 4/11/2010 6:31 PM, Jeffrey Sessler wrote:
> Ethan,
>
> Where I would suggest spending some evaluation time is on the AP
> construction. Having had time to evaluate both the Aruba and Cisco
AP's,
> there were doubts as to the Aruba's life-span when placed in our
> residential halls. The design (this was their 802.11n product),
relied
> on venting and convection cooling, and it was unknown what would
happen
> as dust-bunnies and other obstructions settled on those vents. Even
in
> our "lab" the Aruba AP got hot, so much so that the metal shield on
the
> ethernet connector was uncomfortable to the touch. The Cisco AP's on
the
> other hand were 100% sealed, stayed cool, and the large aluminum
casing
> is the heat sink. Between the two, it was felt the Cisco would be
> maintenance free while the Aruba might require attention (dusting
off)
> from time to time. Point being, as you look at Aruba, HP, Meru, etc.
> make sure to keep the AP's design and planned deployment locations
in
> mind.
>
> Jeff
>
>
>>>> Ethan Sommer<somm...@gac.edu> 4/2/2010 6:25 PM>>>
>>>>
> As I said in another post we selected our "finalists" based on what
> others colleges seem happy with (which by a wide margin seems to be
> mostly cisco, aruba, and meru) and HP because we already have a HP
> infrastructure.
>
> My assumption is that all of you are smart and there is a reason you
> all
> chose to go with those products.
>
> We are on a tight budget, so based on initial pricing we eliminated
> Cisco and Meru who seemed to be the most expensive (plus we don't
like
>
> cisco for a number of other reasons).
>
> (As an aside, after posting here meru contacted me _and my boss_,
which
>
> I believe is not allowed under this list's rules. In any case, I
told
> them if they could provide a quote for a 200 dual radio complete
system
>
> in the same ballpark as the other systems we're looking at, then
we'll
>
> talk.)
>
> Our next steps are
> * To get quotes
> * And bring in the systems to do test runs in real life conditions.
> (We're going to try each out in one of the dorms and the library,
each
>
> of which currently have 10 APs.)
>
> If we aren't in love with any of those systems, we'll widen our
> search.
>
> We have very limited resources, so if one comes in much cheaper than
> the
> others the question will be "is that system good enough for us."
> Otherwise we'll pick the system that we think will work best for us.
>
> Based on talking with schools running Aruba and Meraki, I think
either
>
> would be a great move forward for us. I've yet to hear of a school
who
>
> chose either and regretted it.
>
> Ethan
>
>
>
> Mike Hydra wrote:
>
>> What I personally find interesting is the wide choice not from a
>> manufacturing point of view but more from a Wi-Fi technology point
of
>>
>
>> view.
>>
>> Aruba – Controller based (aka controller based)
>> All data goes through the controller, centralized architecture.
>>
>> HP – decentralized (Controller in not directly essential)
>> Data path is separated from the management path.
>>
>> Meraki – Cloud computing
>> Centralized Cloud, not having to own controller hardware inside
your
>>
>
>> own network.
>>
>> All three very different solutions.
>>
>> I’m looking forward to follow this email threat with the
comments,
>>
>
>> thanks for sharing.
>> I would recommend writing down a proof of concept and invite the
>> vendors of your choice.
>> In this way you’ve tested your requirement (out of your proof on
>> concept) therefore convinced around the solution you buy is the
right
>>
> one.
>
>> Good luck...
>>
>>
>> Mike Hydra
>>
>> Cell: +31 6 29 07 18 96
>> Tel: +31 252 62 61 20
>> Fax: +31 252 68 88 37
>> E-mail: mhy...@2fast4wireless.com
>> Skype: Flying-Wireless-Dutchman
>> Web: www.2fast4wireless.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> *From: *Peter P Morrissey<ppmor...@syr.edu>
>> *Reply-To: *The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv
>> <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>
>> *Date: *Fri, 2 Apr 2010 22:47:26 +0200
>> *To: *<WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>
>> *Subject: *Re: Aruba vs HP vs Meraki
>>
>> OK, so I'll ask. Why did you eliminate Cisco already?
>> Pete M.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv
>> [mailto:wireless-...@listserv.educause.edu] On Behalf Of Ethan
>>
> Sommer
>
>> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 2:21 PM
>> To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
>> Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Aruba vs HP vs Meraki
>>
>> We are considering replacing our 200+ AP wireless infrastructure
with
>>
> a
>
>> controller based 802.11n system.
>>
>> I believe we have narrowed it down to Aruba, HP Procurve (we use HP
>> switch gear), and Meraki.
>>
>> I have two questions:
>>
>> 1. Are there any hidden costs we should watch out for with any of
>>
> these
>
>> (particularly Aruba.) Will we hit major costs other than the up
>>
> front
>
>> cost for the APs and the controllers?
>>
>> 2. I know a lot of schools are very happily using Aruba, but I
>>
> haven't
>
>> heard of any schools using HP and very few using Meraki.
>>
>> Are there any schools who have gone with Aruba and regretted it? If
>> so, why?
>>
>> Are there any schools out there using HP Procurve (formerly
>>
> Colubrius)
>
>> or Merkai? What do you think of them? Did you have any surprises
>>
> after
>
>> you deployed?
>>
>>
>> Ethan
>>
>> --
>> Ethan Sommer
>> Associate Director of Core Services
>> 507-933-7042
>> somm...@gustavus.edu
>>
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