Best Prosumer device to use as Wireless AP?

[bluezp]

Hey folks!

My small office (20ish people) is looking for a new WiFi AP and we're trying to keep costs down.

We're in the transition from PC's to Macs, and most people use hardwired connections. For all the folks getting a new computer though we're getting newer macs that have 802.11ac cards in them and I'd like to take the opportunity to get us started with a 802.11ac AP so we can all take advantage of gigabit wifi.

We've got a Sonicwall being used as our router/vpn. We've got a pretty central location that we can place a high-powered AP in to reach all corners of the office. Since we don't need a managed system with multiple APs and roaming, I was thinking of just purchasing a Netgear Nighthawk (which I own for my house and love) or an Asus RT-AC68U to use in AP mode.

I've been searching around and can't find any information though about how many wifi connections they could handle smoothly. Presumably we're talking about 15-20 smartphones and 10-15 laptops connected max at any given time.

Anyone have any advice? Is this a bad idea to use a top of the line prosumer router rather than an enterprise class AP?

Thanks!

 

[remixedcat]

Stick with enterprise level APs. More reliable and designed for longer-term use and often have more stable radios in them. Also allows better security and isolation and if your office needs to be PCI compliant then using a consumer grade AP is not recommended, as those typically aren't secure enough. Guest networks are not isolated enough on those as those are often on the same subnet/IP range.

 

[abailey]

I also agree with sticking to a pro level AP. There are many good ones out there. One of the best for the money is the Ubiquiti Unifi series Ap's. They have the Unifi AP AC if your looking for AC.

 

[stevech]

Hey folks!

My small office (20ish people) is looking for a new WiFi AP and we're trying to keep costs down.

We're in the transition from PC's to Macs, and most people use hardwired connections. For all the folks getting a new computer though we're getting newer macs that have 802.11ac cards in them and I'd like to take the opportunity to get us started with a 802.11ac AP so we can all take advantage of gigabit wifi.

We've got a Sonicwall being used as our router/vpn. We've got a pretty central location that we can place a high-powered AP in to reach all corners of the office. Since we don't need a managed system with multiple APs and roaming, I was thinking of just purchasing a Netgear Nighthawk (which I own for my house and love) or an Asus RT-AC68U to use in AP mode.

I've been searching around and can't find any information though about how many wifi connections they could handle smoothly. Presumably we're talking about 15-20 smartphones and 10-15 laptops connected max at any given time.

Anyone have any advice? Is this a bad idea to use a top of the line prosumer router rather than an enterprise class AP?

Thanks!

Think first about network security - need an AP to use a AAA server, often the one used by the email server.

NOT a trivial matter. Bad consequences if not done right.

 

[bluezp]

Thanks for the replies. I agree I should go with an enterprise AP!

Are there any Enterprise APs out there supporting 802.11ac yet? Recommendations?

 

[remixedcat]

Cisco Meraki does.

 

[azazel1024]

Or, since you are transitioning to Macs...you could think about an airport extreme. Just a thought.

Just out of curiosity, are this stationary computers? Or laptops...because if stationary, why wouldn't you keep them hardwired?

 

[bluezp]

I think we're going to go with the Sonicwall Sonicpoint dual radio so that we can integrate with our TZ-215 and have that manage it in case we need to add an additional one.

Thanks for the help!

 

[sfx2000]

Think first about network security - need an AP to use a AAA server, often the one used by the email server.

NOT a trivial matter. Bad consequences if not done right.

Active Directory on Windows Server does support RADIUS, which is pretty slick, as one then can tie it back to other DOMAIN\user profiles/access controls.

 

[sfx2000]

Thanks for the replies. I agree I should go with an enterprise AP!

Are there any Enterprise APs out there supporting 802.11ac yet? Recommendations?

I would hold off a bit - there's a couple out there, but let them work the bugs out first...

AC clients will work just fine with a good 802.11n AP

sfx

 

[azazel1024]

I would hold off a bit - there's a couple out there, but let them work the bugs out first...

AC clients will work just fine with a good 802.11n AP

sfx

For a business, that would be my inclination too.

A good 11n router in an environment where all of the devices are going to be 2 or 3 stream 11n clients, especially if you can operate a combined 40MHz 2.4/5GHz network you shouldn't have much in the way of performance issues unless you have a boat load of users all hitting the WLAN at the same time.

You can play with client offloading by specifying some of the clients on 5GHz only and some on 2.4GHz only depending on coverage on site. Or you can get an access point or two additional to spread around the office (if a large office).

A GOOD business grade router should easily be able to handle parsing up bandwidth between clients pretty equitably, which means something like a good 2:2 11n router could probably handle 20 concurrent users between both bands at something like 10-20Mbps each client (if each client is also 2:2. If router and users were all 3:3, probably more like 15-25Mbps). This of course depending on physical distance to router and layout and stuff. Fewer concurrent users, more bandwidth to go around

Unless you are doing some pretty big file transfers, that should be plenty to have part of an office on wireless for work purposes. If you need really high bandwidth, wired is going to be the only way to go.

 

[adawa]

Hello, bluezp. The Cisco Meraki APs are cloud based managed access points that has superior management and monitoring/visibility features. You can also look into Cisco Aironet Access Points, like the new Cisco Aironet 2700 for supporting wireless AC and minimizes RF interference using CleanAir. Check this link: (http://cs.co/9001i2bd) However, it uses a Wireless LAN Controller for centralized management of your controller based AP. Let me know if you have additional concerns or need local Cisco support. Kind regards and hope this helps!