need advice before purchasing the correct and professional AP with installation

[amralrazzaz]

hi all 

i have quotation for two products same as attached , please check 

which one should i go for ? as the price difference is not big between them ? AIR-AP1832I-I-K9C and AIR-AP1852I-I-K9C 

i have several questions if i can get answers before purchase ill be appreciated :

1. which one is better 1852 or 1832 ? is there any difference in quality and function between them ?
2. im not using WLC device and i need only the access point , so is it possible if i can have ap controller and then in future i can add mor ACCESSPOINTS and controlling them from main controller AP ill purchase ? also is it AIR-AP1832I-I-K9C and AIR-AP1852I-I-K9C  compatible with all kind of aironet to control ?
3. my environment is small to medium business and max number of users 20 to 26 users , so is these two kinds of aironet ap is enough for my needs?
4. what if i go with enterprise AP like aironet 2800 for example? and it can work without WLC device ? or should have WLC? and whats better ? to have ap and wlc or ap controller with limited features of controllers ?
5. my main problem to purchase proffesitnail AP  is my current ap linksys wap300n is not proffesional as i think and always dropping network traffic and internet traffic so i have to reset and the AP with installing firmware again and restart to work for sometimes and back to same problem , so my question is this big and headache problem will gonna be fixed after install the new AP ?
6. can i configure the AP normally without doing any thing in switch because i saw on videos that there is vlan one for employee and one for guest ??? im using native vlan in my network infra only one subnet for my network ? so need to know vlan creation for employee and guest  will be only on AP level and create these vlans on switch port only and configure  the port as trunk with allowing to pass the vlans traffic for employee and guest without configuring the router with dot1q vlan for each ?

thanks in advance and appreciate your guidance

[wrainwater]

#1. 1850 has a few extra wave to capabilities (such as more spatial streams per single and multi user
higher theoretical data rate that you will never reach, etc.) Just slightly beefier.

#2. Yes. Though if your environment grows beyond a certain point, I'd look into getting a real controller.

#3. for a business your size you'd be better off just getting a meraki imo. Aironets are cost efficient but require a wireless technical knowledge to maintain. For a company your size, Merakis would fit in perfectly.

#4. Most newer cisco APs can be placed in turned into a controller and work just fine. I wouldnt go past 100 AP's through personally. As stated before, you'd be better of investing in a real one.

#5. have you done some type of testing in your wireless environment to see what the culprit is? Whats the air quality like? Do you have too many SSIDs? too much management traffic hogging up the airtime? rogue device interfering with certin channels? etc.

#6. You can console or terminal connect into an AP and change whatever you'd like. Your only using one subnet for your network? did i read that right? Why?

[amralrazzaz]

#1. 1850 has a few extra wave to capabilities (such as more spatial streams per single and multi user
higher theoretical data rate that you will never reach, etc.) Just slightly beefier. (so its better to get 1850 than 1830 ? )

#2. Yes. Though if your environment grows beyond a certain point, I'd look into getting a real controller.(so i have to get 1850 with WLC or 2800  with wlc will be ok ?)if i purchase 2800 for example controller type so it can work without wlc device and in future can i purchase new wlc ?)

#3. for a business your size you'd be better off just getting a meraki imo. Aironets are cost efficient but require a wireless technical knowledge to maintain. For a company your size, Merakis would fit in perfectly.

(what if my company accept the cost of aironet AP so which better meraki or cisco aironet 1850 or 2800 or 3800 and so on ?)

#4. Most newer cisco APs can be placed in turned into a controller and work just fine. I wouldnt go past 100 AP's through personally. As stated before, you'd be better of investing in a real one. ( if i get 2800c it can work without WLC device at least for now ?)

#5. have you done some type of testing in your wireless environment to see what the culprit is? Whats the air quality like? Do you have too many SSIDs? too much management traffic hogging up the airtime? rogue device interfering with certin channels? etc. (is this the problem that cause internet and network traffic always goes down ? what about the brand i using linksys wap300n ? mayeb hardware issue like bug or power adapter problem or what ?) or this AP is not professional  for business environment ?)

#6. You can console or terminal connect into an AP and change whatever you'd like. Your only using one subnet for your network? did i read that right? Why? yes im using one subnet ? so my question is can i configure ssid guest and employee at same vlan as i saw there are vlans for each ssid ?)

[Leo Laohoo]

4.  I'd rather go with 2800.

6.  Y'know what's going to happen, right?  If you enable Guest and Staff SSID, guess what SSID staff are going to prefer using.  

[amralrazzaz]

4.  I'd rather go with 2800. (is it must working with WLC device or it can working without just normal AP with limited features of controller ?)

6.  Y'know what's going to happen, right?  If you enable Guest and Staff SSID, guess what SSID staff are going to prefer using.  (what do u mean by guess what ssid staff are going to prefer ?) whats the correct method for that? and what should i enable only staff ssid ? also about the one subnet i use only for my network so should i create vlans on switch then dot1q for each on router ?) 

please advice before purchase and whats the correct thing to do ? 1850 ? or 2800 ? or 3800 and with wlc or without ? 

[Leo Laohoo]

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@amralrazzaz wrote:

Y'know what's going to happen, right?  If you enable Guest and Staff SSID, guess what SSID staff are going to prefer using.  (what do u mean by guess what ssid staff are going to prefer ?) whats the correct method for that? and what should i enable only staff ssid ? also about the one subnet i use only for my network so should i create vlans on switch then dot1q for each on router ?) 

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I've seen it so many, many times.  Everyone complains about (why) staff keep using the Guest SSID.  How often do you have guest(s) use the Guest SSID?  Very or sometimes? 

If it's very often then think about an 802.1x-based SSID.  Guest enter a randomly generated username and password and they get "punted" into the Guest subnet (subnet and not SSID).  

Staff use their own personal device to connect to the Guest SSID all the time.  

2800 is the mid-tier AP and I prefer to use this (over the 1800) because it has better performance.

The only reason why I'd use the 1800 over the 2800 is BLE.  But then again, if you can afford to use/implement BLE then you can afford to use the 4800.  (It's not that simple as getting an AP that supports BLE means that BLE is immediately available.)

[amralrazzaz]

our company standard is to use   AIR-AP2802I-X-K9  and they told me to purchase it with WLC 

need to recommend for me WLC 

and can i ask if this accesspoint can be configured and working fine without WLC device til i purchase wlc device in near future ?

thanks

[Leo Laohoo]

AP can be loaded with Mobility Express image.

[amralrazzaz]

so AIR-AP2802I-X-K9  can be working without WLC device by using mobility express image  ? im i correct ?

[amralrazzaz]

my company request me to purchase AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 with WLC but what im asking if this AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 can be working normally without WLC device ?

can i ask the following before purchase ?

1- can i ask if AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 can work without WLC device i mean is it configurable same as AIR-AP2802I-x-K9c ?

2- AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 and AIR-AP2802I-x-K9c can be used on WLC device in case if it will be exist near future?

3- AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 can be work standalone AP and can be configure and working fine without using WLC device ?

4- AIR-AP2802I-x-K9c if purchase it , it can work without wlc and with wlc in case if its exist ?

[amralrazzaz]

my company request me to purchase AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 with WLC but what im asking if this AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 can be working normally without WLC device ?

can i ask the following before purchase ?

1- can i ask if AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 can work without WLC device i mean is it configurable same as AIR-AP2802I-x-K9c ?

2- AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 and AIR-AP2802I-x-K9c can be used on WLC device in case if it will be exist near future?

3- AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 can be work standalone AP and can be configure and working fine without using WLC device ?

4- AIR-AP2802I-x-K9c if purchase it , it can work without wlc and with wlc in case if its exist ?

[Leo Laohoo]

---

@amralrazzaz wrote:

my company request me to purchase AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 with WLC but what im asking if this AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 can be working normally without WLC device ?

can i ask the following before purchase ?

1- can i ask if AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 can work without WLC device i mean is it configurable same as AIR-AP2802I-x-K9c ?

2- AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 and AIR-AP2802I-x-K9c can be used on WLC device in case if it will be exist near future?

3- AIR-AP2802I-x-K9 can be work standalone AP and can be configure and working fine without using WLC device ?

4- AIR-AP2802I-x-K9c if purchase it , it can work without wlc and with wlc in case if its exist ?

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Please see attachment.

[amralrazzaz]

usually which one is more expensive AIR-AP2802I-I-K9C or AIR-AP2802I-I-K9 ??

[Scott Fella]

They would be the same price. The thing to keep in mind is how easy it would be to install. I’m more of “get the correct one”, than, “well this gives me two options”. If you are going to be using a WLC, then don’t get the ME AP.

[amralrazzaz]

its without WLC my location is very small so ill get the controller one with ME , so is it easy to configure ?

and should i use vlans because im using only one vlan on my network ?