Putting together a system from scratch

[duilio1337]

Hello, I am trying to put something together for our school of about 200 students. We are currently using household APs in our school building which are not working well at all. I've looked around a bit and so far I thinking about the 1142 APs and a 2504 controller. I'm not too familiar with Cisco and I wondering what other people have done or would recommend. I'm not sure how the controller works and how it needs to be connected. Any other suggestions for someone who is not familiar with controller based wireless would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time

[Scott Fella · Accepted solution]

For schools, many of what I have deployed were 5508's. This was because of access point count. The 2504 supports up to 75, so if you will have more than 76, then you need a 5508. The 5508 can support up to 500. The 1142 are end if sale and I would suggest the 2602's. I have schools the have the 1142's but are replacing them with either the 2602's, 3602's or the new 3702's. It depends on your budget. You can still probably purchase refurb 1142's from refurb store, there are many out there.

You should really speak with your local Cisco SE and or a Cisco Var when it comes to how you should design it. There are so many things that can change a design, especially if you require Apple TV's, guest access, just to name a few.

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

[Sandeep Choudhary · Accepted solution]

Agree with Scott.

You must go with 5508 series Controller as 2504 is used for small deployment or small enterprises.

Here is the basic guide for WLC and AP configuration:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless/4400-series-wireless-lan-controllers/69719-wlc-lwap-config.html

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless-mobility/wireless-lan-wlan/70333-lap-registration.html

Regards