Mobility Express - when they decided to migrate and scale the wireless network, but as always, there is no money
With the release of the first article on the Habré describing the Mobility Express solution, more than 2 years have passed. And strangely, this topic was not touched anymore.
Would you?
In the conditions of quite tight budgets, recently the Customers do not often have a question to choose from, the suit falls on the price each time. But still in our vast expanses of the motherland, there are still Customers ready to buy relying not only on pricing policies, yet over the years developed technological solutions, as well as the unification of systems, does its job of choosing, there are also those who see the prospects for business development due to choice those or other decisions.
It’s a pity that between the prospect of growth and the moment of initial implementation, as we all know, it can take more than a year or even two. And taking into account such a forecast, investing a lot of money in iron into capital expenditures on iron that will dry out as soon as possible, so-so.
Well, in this case, the scene comes as an example of Cisco Mobility Express (that's just a pity that Cisco came to this so late).
')
Prehistory
At the end of 2017, our Customer firmly decided for himself that as part of increasing production capacity and the need to add additional access points to an existing wireless network system, he is ready to fully switch to a Cisco wireless solution (this is the new corporate standard). The main problem when choosing a solution to replace existing access points was the problem of quantitative indicators (currently there are 40), as well as taking into account the growth of areas, judging by the estimates of Ekahau Site Survey & Planner, the figures were from 120 to 140 access points. For such a problem at the moment there is an excellent solution to the bases of the controller 3504, with support for 150 access points. But the further the project was budgeted, the more introductory it became. As a result, as it worked out, of course, the goal for the closest purchase, of course, was the purchase of 12 access points. And here comes the thought: "The controller is 3504 for 150 access points, and the purchase of only 12 points and while on the horizon, the clearance for the purchase of the remaining AP is not visible." Well counted. Customer Response: "... Wow, exactly the same seems like a tucked wing of an airplane!"
Decision
The only way to solve this problem without replacing the vendor was to use the solution Mobility Express. Remembering the article on Habré from 2015, the first thing that came to mind was that only one access point was described there and it didn’t fit the Customer at all. And here we are very welcome to use very good datasheets from the manufacturer’s website. In the table of Mobility Express technology support today the following access points are listed:
| Master APs | Subordinate APs |
|---|---|
| Cisco Aironet 1560 Series | Cisco Aironet 700i Series |
| Cisco Aironet 1815i | Cisco Aironet 700w Series |
| Cisco Aironet 1815w | Cisco Aironet 1600 Series |
| Cisco Aironet 1830 Series | Cisco Aironet 1700 Series |
| Cisco Aironet 1850 Series | Cisco Aironet 1810W Series |
| Cisco Aironet 2800 Series | Cisco Aironet 2600 Series |
| Cisco Aironet 3800 Series | Cisco Aironet 2700 Series |
| Cisco Aironet 3500 Series | |
| Cisco Aironet 3600 Series | |
| Cisco Aironet 3700 Series |
As can be seen from the table, the entire model range now supports this feature, with the exception of access points from the SMB series, you can read more on the page .
We stopped our choice at access points 2802 in external execution (full desks AIR-AP2802E-R-K9), and even no longer because of temperature indicators, but because we needed the ability to install external antennas. When ordering access points, be
- SW2802-MECPWP-K9 - Cisco 2800 Series Mobility Express software image
- SW2802-CAPWAP-K9 - Cisco Aironet 2800 Series CAPWAP Software Image
Why I crossed out the word "necessarily", because of course when ordering equipment with a position in the zero-price software, the procurement department dropped this position and the engineers got 12 access points with the Mobility Express software, but for the sake of fairness, it should be noted that Reflash it is not difficult. And if you pay attention to the expression "position with zero price", then you can immediately understand the advantages of this solution. And provided that today, depending on the access points (filling capacity), the system can:
- Support for 100 access points (depends on access points);
- Support up to 2000 clients;
- Support for high availability of the pair on the second access point (but this chip does not work at all like on controller 2504 and other models, then if the master point fell, the slave AP will rise from scratch, that is, we get uptime);
- And etc.
This feature set will override 90% of the required functions for Small businesses and even a part of midsize.
The only thing with which our engineer cannot agree with it is the words from the manufacturer’s Sets up in 10 minutes , in 10 minutes you will have time to answer only the initial dialog box questions, and then you can go to deeper settings, According to the engineer, the deployment time will be from 30 minutes to one hour.
Minimum price comparison
Knowing the pros and cons of this decision, I propose to consider a bit of comparison in terms of price. Compare the construction of a network of 50 access points using APs AIR-AP2802E-R-K9 and Mobility Express software and a solution based on a physical controller AIR-CT2504-50-K9, a HA controller - AIR-CT2504-HA-K9 and AIR access points -AP2802E-R-K9.
Based on the controller AIR-CT2504-50-K9:
| Part number | Description | Qty | GPL price | Extended gpl price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIR-CT2504-50-K9 | 2504 Wireless Controller with 50 AP Licenses | one | $ 13,644.75 | $ 13,644.75 |
| AIR-CT2504-HA-K9 | 2504 Wireless Controller for High Availability | one | 1,260 $ | 1,260 $ |
| AIR-CT2504-RMNT | 2504 Wireless Controller Rack Mount Bracket | 2 | $ 99.75 | 199.5 $ |
| AIR-AP2802E-R-K9 | 802.11ac W2 AP w / CA; 4x4: 3; Ext Ant; 2xGbE; R Domain | 50 | 1,517.25 $ | $ 75,862.50 |
| CON-SNT-CT2550 | SNTC-8X5XNBD 2504 Wireless LAN Controller with 50 AP | one | 2,040.10 $ | 2,040.10 $ |
| CON-SNT-CT2504HA | SNTC-8X5XNBD 2504 Wireless Controller for High Availa | one | 188.60 $ | 188.60 $ |
| CON-SNT-AIR8RK9E | SNTC-8X5XNBD 802.11ac W2 AP w / CA; 3x4: 3; Ext Ant; 2xG | 50 | 64.40 $ | 3,220.00 $ |
| Total Price: | 96,415.45 $ | |||
Based on Mobility Express controller:
| Part number | Description | Qty | GPL price | Extended gpl price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIR-AP2802E-R-K9 | 802.11ac W2 AP w / CA; 4x4: 3; Ext Ant; 2xGbE; R Domain | 50 | 1,517.25 $ | $ 75,862.50 |
| CON-SNT-AIR8RK9E | SNTC-8X5XNBD 802.11ac W2 AP w / CA; 3x4: 3; Ext Ant; 2xG | 50 | 64.40 $ | 3,220.00 $ |
| Total Price: | 79,082.50 $ | |||
*** Omitted free positions in the tables. Prices are in the GPL.
The difference of $ 17,000, a lot or a little, is of course not for me to decide, but as part of purchasing a small number of access points and a 3504 controller, everything looks much sadder.
Summarizing
Cisco Mobility Express is a great solution that can almost completely replace the 2504 controller and build a full-fledged wireless network. This solution is an excellent option for many Customers who want to scale up their Cisco-based wireless network, with the ability to split their CAPEX indefinitely.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/348032/
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