need dual band APs

[ERDrPC]

I'm upgrading my network for home automation. I'm using a 24 port Netgear POE switch and Netgear firewall/router. I've done a site survey and need two APs.

Two Questions:
1. I'm replacing a Linksys 610N dual band router where I used the 5.0 GHz N for video streaming and 2.4 GHz G for data. I will be hard-wiring all TVs now with Cat 6. I will be using the wifi for automation remotes, internet surfing, and iPads. How do you recommend setting up my spectrum... 5.0 GHz N and 2.4 GHz N/G?

2. Which POE APs do you recommend? I've looked into Pakedge and Ruckus but I'm not looking to spend over $5000 just on wireless coverage. Ubiquiti makes unifi but haven't released their dual band AP yet. At this point I'm still looking at concurrent dual band APs unless your answer to question 1 tells me otherwise. I was looking at virtual cell technology to eliminate dropoff and handshaking time but it's too expensive at this point. I believe WDS does something similar but bandwidth is cut in half??

I've found :
DAP-2553 AirPremier N Dual Band PoE - not concurrent dual band
3Com AP9552
Dlink AirPremier N Dual Band 2590
Cisco Small Business WAP4410N Wireless-N Access Point
NETGEAR WNDAP350 ProSafe 802.11n Dual Band Wireless - bad reviews on SNB
Netgear WNDR3700 - good reviews but not POE
Cisco Aironet 1041
Cisco Aironet 1141
HP MSM460

Looking forward to your recommendations

 

[ERDrPC]

Still looking for answers to my first post

Updated search
Dlink DAP-2553 - Not concurrent dual band - OUT
Dlink DAP-2690 - ?? review
DLink DWL-8600AP - ?? review
3Com AP9552 - ?? review
Dlink AirPremier N Dual Band 2590 - Not concurrent dual band - OUT
Cisco WAP4410N - Not concurrent dual band - OUT
NETGEAR WNDAP350 - bad reviews on SNB - OUT
Netgear WNDR3700 - Not POE - OUT
Cisco Aironet 1042N standalone - ?? review
Cisco Aironet 1142N standlaone - ?? review
Cisco Aironet 3500 - only controller based deployment - OUT
Cisco AP541N - Not concurrent dual band - OUT
HP MSM460 - ?? review
Ruckus 7962 - may be back in the hunt

 

[stevech]

you say: I will be using the wifi for automation remotes, internet surfing, and iPads.
Unless your neighbors' 2.4GHz WiFi is heavily loaded with traffic on all three channels, why bother with 5.8GHz for the uses you list?

PoE APs: I've used and can give a + to Engenious. They're inexpensive, e.g., on Newegg. (Like all low cost PoEs, this is not 802.3af PoE, just power insert/extract, which is fine).

IMO and nothing more, having used most of these over many years:
Cisco Aironet is good, but SOHO-priced.
I though 3Com exited the WiFi business.
D-Link: I'd avoid; QA problems too often.
Netgear- bottom-fishing for most stuff. Switches are OK.
Ruckus - overkill.

 

[thiggins]

There isn't really any need for dual-band since your bandwidth requirements are modest and you're not running any streaming applications. 5 GHz range will be lower than 2.4 GHz too.

You are limiting your choices to SMB products by requiring PoE. You could also use PoE injector kits to adapt any consumer APs.

For your use, and since you are connecting the APs via Etherent, you really can use anything. Also take a look at EnGenius and Ubiquiti. See this thread for a Ubitquiti mini-review.

 

[ERDrPC]

There isn't really any need for dual-band since your bandwidth requirements are modest and you're not running any streaming applications. 5 GHz range will be lower than 2.4 GHz too.

You are limiting your choices to SMB products by requiring PoE. You could also use PoE injector kits to adapt any consumer APs.

For your use, and since you are connecting the APs via Etherent, you really can use anything. Also take a look at EnGenius and Ubiquiti. See this thread for a Ubitquiti mini-review.

Thanks for the replies. My concern is that the Crestron equipment will be using a 2.4 GHz mesh network for the wireless in-wall controllers, light switches, and T-sats. I wanted to preemptively eliminate any crowding on the 2.4 GHZ spectrum. I already have a netgear FVS336G router/firewall and GS724TPS POE .at & .af switch and everything will be rack mounted in my equipment room. I liked the idea of having a centrally controlled wifi deployment using the netgear WMS5316 and WNDAP350 APs. But the reviews on SNB scared me off the AP. The cisco aironet APs can be found on amazon for a decent price. I even found a ruckus zone director on amazon but they require a separate service contract for firmware updates and such.

I've always had issues with D-link equipment and that's why I've hesitated on their business APs. Anyone heard anything about the HP AP? I will look again at Ubitquiti. I'm looking for a robust wifi network. There will be wireless streaming and roaming with the iPads and laptops (crestron's PC and mac x-pannel as well as directv over TCP/IP). I may add a VOIP system or at least a wireless front-door HD Axis IP camera with two-way voice communication as this project is a retro fit and I can't hardwire everything.

 

[stevech]

The 2.4GHz band is 60MHz wide. There are 3 non-overlapping channels for the 20MHz WiFi to use.
WiFi transmissions are packet data, if you will. The transmissions are brief and infrequent, and a listen-before-transmit (called CSMA/CA) mechanism is used to reduce interference.
I didn't see what Crestron uses in 2.4GHz, but between choosing what channel your WiFi uses, and the use of CSMA/CA by WiFi and probably Crestron's devices too, means coexistence is virtually assured.

If you were planning to stream HD video, yes, you should use wired Cat5/6, HPNA, MoCA, or at last resort, 5.8GHz WiFi.

 

[Mangusta1969]

5GHz RF Band Effective Range

Don't get your hopes up too high for using the 5GHz band if you have any significant distance requirements in your layout. In my experience with a dual band Cisco E4200, the effective range on this RF band was very limited (like 40 feet or less) and it could only penetrate one wooden construction wall. The E4200 had about triple that range and could penetrate 3-4 walls on the 2.4GHz band. In my setup, the Ubiquiti PowerAP-N (single band router/AP) has about three times the working range of the E4200 on the 2.4GHz band and can penetrate many more house walls/floors.

Perhaps other wireless devices have better 5GHz range capabilities than I observed with my E4200. Maybe someone can chime in here with their real world effective ranges and throughput for some of the newer dual band wifi devices, including the E4200 (my unit may have had lower than average performance...).

 

[stevech]

5.8GHz range is probably limited moreso by the client device (PC, etc) transmitted power than the access point/router.

Yes, by laws of physics, 5.8GHz has a disadvantage over 2.4GHz in free space (air) propagation. The attenuation is greater still at 5.8 for construction materials and foliage.

In professional systems, the higher frequency of 5.8GHz is often used to the advantage in that antenna gain is much higher for a same-sized antenna as 2.4GHz, for directional antennas.