Aruba Networks - Easy Setup, Low Cost

From my blog at www.theorycraft.tech

We recently completed a wireless network deployment for one of our mid-sized clients.

A lot of times small businesses will only request the setup of a single wireless router (and maybe an extender), and then mid-sized to large businesses often default to Cisco devices as an almost mandatory go-to.

Luckily, for this project we got to try something new. The client has a large office space, taking up three floors of their building. Based on cost, features, and usage of Aruba in one of their locations elsewhere in the country, Aruba Networks was the manufacturer the client decided on.

The client has a switch-stack on each floor of the office, all connections on the same subnet. We needed to install 15 IAP-205-US wireless access points (WAPs) between the three floors.

First we configured the needed internal and guest networks on the built-in virtual controller of one of the IAP-205 units. We then setup needed network security and MAC filtering, and was even able to implement a surprisingly large amount of content filtering. These units provide a lot of configuration options for a no-cost built-in controller!

Once all of our configurations were done, we connected this unit to the network and let it boot. When the device was up and running we connected the other 14 WAPs, and it was like magic. They all auto-meshed seamlessly without any input on our behalf. All 15 WAPs appeared in the management console and I was able to walk around all three floors, my signal passing from WAP-to-WAP with no issue, excellent performance, and no dropped signals. The coverage from each unit exceeded expectations, especially considering that we went with one of the lower-end WAP models, and absolutely no complaints about the network speed - fantastic performance.

As this is a client we work with closely, I am excited to keep testing and working with the network as more and more employees begin to use it. For now though, I am happy for the opportunity to have been able to gain experience with a new platform and to see some of the other wireless options out there operate in person. I will definitely be keeping Aruba in the cards for future proposals if it fits the need of the business - especially when one of those needs is performance on a budget.