Thomas et al., For people looking for creative/more affordable systems (not discussing all the drawbacks etc ;-), you could also look at Benu Networks. http://benu.net/solutions/ <http://benu.net/solutions/>
It seems to be based on White Label APs with Open Source code and centrally managed offering. (I met their CTO at a conference and it seemed pretty interesting, but I have never tested) Has anyone on the list investigated this system? Philippe Philippe Hanset, CEO www.anyroam.net <http://www.anyroam.net/> www.eduroam.us <http://www.eduroam.us/> +1 (865) 236-0770 > On Feb 21, 2017, at 10:12 AM, Thomas Carter <tcar...@austincollege.edu> wrote: > > Yes, or in some cases, no budget cuts but increased requirements/demands for > wireless. > Thomas Carter > Network & Operations Manager / IT > Austin College > 900 North Grand Avenue > Sherman, TX 75090 > Phone: 903-813-2564 > www.austincollege.edu <http://www.austincollege.edu/> > <image001.gif> > > From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv > [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>] On Behalf Of Ian Lyons > Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 8:53 AM > To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@listserv.educause.edu> > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] In room WIFI - second example > > A better way to ask the question (perhaps?): > > Your budget was cut in half but your requirements of installing/having AC > Wireless was not changed? > > Simple answer is something has to give. I understand your pain. > > From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv > [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>] On Behalf Of Thomas Carter > Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 9:50 AM > To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] In room WIFI - second example > > In the example I used below, there wasn’t an FTE to eliminate. There is no > way that Meraki, Aerohive, and Ruckus can be cheaper, especially when TCO is > concerned. That annual license/controller cost for Meraki and Aerohive > wouldn’t be there. > > I guess I’m not making my point well. It seems like most of the responses > assume there is enough budget for a top tier solution and this is just about > not spending all of it. Imagine your budget for wireless was cut in half. > What would you do? > Thomas Carter > Network & Operations Manager / IT > Austin College > 900 North Grand Avenue > Sherman, TX 75090 > Phone: 903-813-2564 > www.austincollege.edu > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.austincollege.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=fRj0Ny06vnlMGanBNTm8Gz8qwYgaEtNN4zo%2BfxYHits%3D&reserved=0> > <image001.gif> > > From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv > [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>] On Behalf Of Jeffrey D. Sessler > Sent: Monday, February 20, 2017 3:52 PM > To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] In room WIFI - second example > > In the k-12 space, Cisco Meraki, Aerohive, and Ruckus continue to be the big > players even in small districts, with others, including Ubiquiti, not making > much of a dent. Those solutions also tend to come in at or lower than > Ubiquiti. > > One of the drivers for solutions such as Meraki is that from management’s > perspective, the cloud-based platform and extensive support channel means you > don’t need all those expensive FTE’s to run it, while at the same time > gaining many of the enterprise features you care most about. The reduction of > even a single FTE costing say $100K per year including benefits purchases a > whole lot of additional wireless hardware. > > Jeff > > From: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu > <mailto:wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu>" > <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>> on behalf of Thomas Carter > <tcar...@austincollege.edu <mailto:tcar...@austincollege.edu>> > Reply-To: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu > <mailto:wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu>" > <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>> > Date: Monday, February 20, 2017 at 12:08 PM > To: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu > <mailto:wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu>" > <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>> > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] In room WIFI - second example > > I’m not questioning the cost, just the available options. I feel like I > sometimes want to tow a 15’ travel trailer and my options from the > established vendors are a Peterbuilt, Mack, and Freightligner at 4x the cost > of an F-150 that is adequate to the task. Because of that, there are a lot of > small schools, businesses, etc, that are now turning to Ubiquiti, Open Mesh, > Mikrotik, etc for their good-enough. > > I do believe you get what you pay for, but there are limits on what you can > afford. Here’s the story of a friend; a campus of APs between 5-10 years old. > Over the next 5 years he could only get the budget to replace only ½ of them > with a Cisco/Aruba/Ruckus/etc. Over the next 3 years, he could replace all of > them with Ubiquiti. What choice do you make? > Thomas Carter > Network & Operations Manager / IT > Austin College > 900 North Grand Avenue > Sherman, TX 75090 > Phone: 903-813-2564 > www.austincollege.edu > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.austincollege.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=fRj0Ny06vnlMGanBNTm8Gz8qwYgaEtNN4zo%2BfxYHits%3D&reserved=0> > <image002.gif> > > From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv > [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>] On Behalf Of Jeffrey D. Sessler > Sent: Monday, February 20, 2017 1:44 PM > To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] In room WIFI - second example > > On the cost of devices. > > Some enterprise vendor solutions may be nothing more than the same > off-the-shelf design that the consumer models use, including using the same > radio code. When there are radio code issues, the vendor goes back to > Broadcom, Marvell, or Qualcomm for a fix. Other enterprise vendors go as far > as to license the radio source code, where you get unique features not > otherwise available with off-the-shelf designs. > > That said, the enterprise WAP vendor does write the code that does all the > rest of the magic in the WAP e.g. interface, controller connectivity, and so > on. In general, the cost you are paying for the enterprise WAPs involves a > lot more than just the hardware cost with most of it in the value/development > cost of the IP (software underpinning the system). > > Jeff > > From: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu > <mailto:wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu>" > <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>> on behalf of Thomas Carter > <tcar...@austincollege.edu <mailto:tcar...@austincollege.edu>> > Reply-To: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu > <mailto:wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu>" > <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>> > Date: Monday, February 20, 2017 at 9:01 AM > To: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu > <mailto:wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu>" > <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>> > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] In room WIFI - second example > > It does bring up a problem that I’ve been complaining about for a long time – > the top tier vendors don’t really offer any low cost single-room solutions, > especially when it comes to ac. For example, what is there between this > Mikrotik device at $50 and an Aruba AP-205H for $400? I see they have a 203H > coming, but I don’t know the pricing on that. It seems the Cisco 1810 is a > little better at $300, but for less than double that cost I can support 3 > rooms with a traditional ceiling mount. And that doesn’t include the extra > controller licensing and capacity required. > > From the point of view of someone with a small, challenging budget, I could > get the Aruba or Cisco and then have to keep them in service for 10+ years, > or go for the cheaper models and replace them every 3. I realize there are > other issue, but cost is a big driver. > Thomas Carter > Network & Operations Manager / IT > Austin College > 900 North Grand Avenue > Sherman, TX 75090 > Phone: 903-813-2564 > www.austincollege.edu > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.austincollege.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=fRj0Ny06vnlMGanBNTm8Gz8qwYgaEtNN4zo%2BfxYHits%3D&reserved=0> > <image003.gif> > > From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv > [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>] On Behalf Of Mark Elley > Sent: Monday, February 20, 2017 10:24 AM > To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU > <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] In room WIFI - second example > > IMHO what you potentially save upfront will probably cost you dearly in > maintenance, support issues and customer (dis)satisfaction. > > > Wireless Service Manager > IT Services, University of Bristol > > On 20 February 2017 at 14:55, Michael Blaisdell <mblaisd...@francis.edu > <mailto:mblaisd...@francis.edu>> wrote: > Hmm. How many rooms, buildings, and end devices, Michael? > > > 700 rooms over 10 buildings and about 3000 end devices. > > ********** > Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent > Group discussion list can be found athttp://www.educause.edu/discuss > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educause.edu%2Fdiscuss&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=ClONR840eI%2B%2FO9QwRNqNHnNAarSKc5l%2FtSiIvZz6qRA%3D&reserved=0>. > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found > athttp://www.educause.edu/discuss > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educause.edu%2Fdiscuss&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=ClONR840eI%2B%2FO9QwRNqNHnNAarSKc5l%2FtSiIvZz6qRA%3D&reserved=0>. > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found > athttp://www.educause.edu/discuss > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educause.edu%2Fdiscuss&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=ClONR840eI%2B%2FO9QwRNqNHnNAarSKc5l%2FtSiIvZz6qRA%3D&reserved=0>. > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found > athttp://www.educause.edu/discuss > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educause.edu%2Fdiscuss&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=ClONR840eI%2B%2FO9QwRNqNHnNAarSKc5l%2FtSiIvZz6qRA%3D&reserved=0>. > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found > athttp://www.educause.edu/discuss > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educause.edu%2Fdiscuss&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=ClONR840eI%2B%2FO9QwRNqNHnNAarSKc5l%2FtSiIvZz6qRA%3D&reserved=0>. > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found > athttp://www.educause.edu/discuss > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educause.edu%2Fdiscuss&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=ClONR840eI%2B%2FO9QwRNqNHnNAarSKc5l%2FtSiIvZz6qRA%3D&reserved=0>. > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found > athttp://www.educause.edu/discuss > <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educause.edu%2Fdiscuss&data=02%7C01%7Cilyons%40ROLLINS.EDU%7Cd7de358c1cef494f5cbf08d45a68ee6a%7Cb8e8d71a947d41dd81dd8401dcc51007%7C0%7C0%7C636232854208154442&sdata=ClONR840eI%2B%2FO9QwRNqNHnNAarSKc5l%2FtSiIvZz6qRA%3D&reserved=0>. > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found > athttp://www.educause.edu/discuss <http://www.educause.edu/discuss>. > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found at > http://www.educause.edu/discuss <http://www.educause.edu/discuss>. > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss.
