We are using Meraki (cloud) as well as Cisco (controller). For the cloud requirement, the Meraki is really easy to setup and manage and they have both small as well as very large enterprise deployments. The interface it great, and like other cloud offering, you get out of the management of controllers/software updates. Meraki pretty much owns k-12, where the simplicity is a huge plus over the traditional on-prem controller designs. The cloud managed switches/security devices are also easy to manage. Support is top notch too.
If you are considering controller-based, my consortium currently uses both Aruba and Cisco, although the Aruba schools have recently made the decision to move to Cisco. If you’d like to hear information on both, contact me off-list. No need to start a “Ford vs Chevy” debate on the list. Jeff From: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu" <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> on behalf of John Rodkey <rod...@westmont.edu> Reply-To: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu" <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Date: Thursday, May 17, 2018 at 11:10 AM To: "wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu" <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Wireless Options Our college - about 40 buildings, 1200 students, 3500 wireless clients per day, currently 310 WAPs - is considering a major upgrade in WAPs, replacing a number that are 9 years old and no longer supported. We could replace with the latest model of our existing vendor, but want to consider all the feasible alternatives. We have a hard requirement that the controller be cloud-based, the system deal well with Mac clients, understand VLANs and an enterprise quality network, and have a rich set of configuration, logging, monitoring, and troubleshooting tools for dealing both with clients and access points. Responsive support is also required, and unsurprisingly total system cost is a significant issue. 3 vendors come to mind: Meraki, Ubiquiti, and Aerohive. Questions: 1) do other vendors come to mind that play well in this space? 2) what are your positive experiences with any of the above? 3) what are your negative experiences? 4) have you recently gone through this analysis, and if so, what were your conclusions? 5) what issues have you experienced with PoE capacity requirements with these devices? John Rodkey Director of Servers and Networks Westmont College ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at 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.
