5508 and Repeaters

[mattparsons]

Greetings!

My company is finally making the set up to a 5508 controller.  w00t for single point of control!

Anyway, I was wondering how repeaters function/are set up using a 5508.  I did some Googling and couldn't really find a lot that jumped out at me regarding this.  The only thing I really ran into was Mesh networking, but there is no way we'll be purchasing some 1500s as that would be incredible overkill to do some basic repeating.

Just to clarify: this is stuff that cannot/should not be drilled through, so wireless repeating is a must.  It is not the way I prefer to do things, but it is the reality that I'm dealing with.

Sorry for such a n00b question, but we're about to drop (for us) a lot of cash down on a controller, and I need to make sure that the Cisco solution is right for us.

Thanks in advance!

[Nicolas Darchis · Accepted solution]

WLC do not allow for repeaters. With a 5508 you'd typically buy 802.11n APs and a repeater with 802.11n makes .11n useless since it kills the bandwitdh.

Mesh is the elegant solution that WLC supports for the same user requirement.

If you think that 1500s are too expensive for that, know that you can do mesh with indoor APs. However, as stated they are indoor APs, so don't put them outside :-)

[George Stefanick · Accepted solution]

Do keep in mind, you dont need a 1500 to do MESH. A 3500 and other models support MESH as well. HOWEVER, just dont get fancy and try to do more than say 2 hops. Ive had issues with no-mesh access points and exceeding 2 hopes (me personally). This is another alternative to repeaters.

You can also do bridges with a WLC. Something else to keep in your back pocket.

[mattparsons]

Awesome.

Thanks so much for your replies.

Because I haven't messed around with lightweight APs (and WLC's for that matter), I wasn't sure what to expect, but was hoping for something of an elegant solution (wireless backhaul is a bit more elegant than repeating, imo).

So, acording to some of Cisco's documentation (here this is what I was hoping for, that you both confirmed for me) a dual-band 1130 would work... does anyone know if a dual-band 1040 would work?

[George Stefanick]

Welcome to the world of WiFi.

The 1040 AP is a low cost budget ap. It doesnt come with a lot of bells. And it does not support MESH. Here is a quick glance guide for aps.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/wireless/products_category_buyers_guide.html

Keep in mind when you MESH Aps you will use the 5 GHz band to backhaul. Regular APs that mesh dont allow for client link on the backhaul.

[mattparsons]

Hey hey!

lol, Thanks so much for the welcome!  I've been working with wireless for about 6 years now, but I'm just now getting a controller.

Maybe something like welcome to 2005?

Anyway, thanks for the clarification.  I noticed on the sheet you told me to look at, it says that Mesh is available on the 1040 (after the upgrade to LWAPP).  That would be pretty awesome, if true.

Given that we are looking for mostly 2.4 clients, I'm pretty stoked on what I've seen so far.

Now just Open Source the WCS and I'll be a super-happy camper lol.

[George Stefanick]

I stand corrected .. But I would still ask your cisco se or even get a demo to test first. I recall that not being an option ..

If you are new to the controller I run a WiFi blog you may find helpful ... www.my80211.com its largerly cisco controller based labs and information...

[mattparsons]

Awesome.

I'll hit that up.  Thanks so much, once again.

[George Stefanick]

no worries .. thanks for the ratings ...