The r700 is a fantastic unit, and for multiple APs you will need a controller.I was looking at the ruckus r700 do I need a controller for them?
They wont let you roam though.. running them in autonomous mode - if you want proper roaming you'll need to run a controller (either physical or virtual) if im not totally off my beat.I've been using Cisco Aironet 1252 APs for most deployments - they are dirt cheap on eBay from sellers like Eli Systems for $44.10 in Qty 1 down to $31.41 in Qty 100. These things are built like battleships - cast aluminum frame, etc.
The only thing you might need to be concerned about is the Cisco IOS command line, although these units have a web interface that should let yo configure everything that way if you prefer.
Actually they will, provided you use wpa2 enterprise/radiusWhats your budget?
I have no experience with Ruckus brand. But Cisco and Meraki are rock solid stuff. Meraki will run you without a controller (cloud based controller unit) but they charge a subscription fee though.
They wont let you roam though.. running them in autonomous mode - if you want proper roaming you'll need to run a controller (either physical or virtual) if im not totally off my beat.
Disclaimer - I did have a team doing a project at Ruckus before leaving PwC in 2015.
Quick thoughts on the enterprise segment:
I use Ubiquiti at home and I have recommended it to others. I might be inclined to get some of their cheap LR AC AP's for now, then get ready for 802.11ac Wave 2 this year before getting something higher end.
- Ubiquiti - their business model is basically push all development to whatever ODM/ chipset manufacturer they use. Their corporate structure/ controls have been so thin that they let $47M be transferred out of the company. Given the size of the company (~$600M/ yr in revenue) that is a huge sum. If you used that same percentage on old HP revenue of $100B or so, it would be like HP just let $7.5-8B be transferred out of the company and had no controls to stop it. I use Ubiquiti at home but I would not use them at work after what I learned. Super easy to use and deploy in SOHO/ SMB settings though.
- Meraki - this is really dominating the corporate Wi-Fi network world right now. People that are Cisco network folks buy these like crazy. The old knock is that the per-AP management fees are high and you need to keep paying to keep the APs alive. If you look at the growth rate of the product, easy to see why it is doing well.
- Ruckus - they pretty much specialize in radios or what they call "having the best RF" - they had BeamFlex before beam forming was big. If I lived in a crowded apartment building and just wanted to beat out interference, I would probably go Ruckus. Their lower-end Xclaim line (more of a competitor to Ubiquiti) is growing fast.
- Aerohive - focuses on Education segment
- HP/ Aruba - not really focused on the SMB/ SOHO space.
The main reason I dont recommend ubiquiti more than I do to customers, is the fact that the controller software is somewhat limited to tweaking and troubleshooting - imo - compared to the more enterprise related stuff.Right now we use ubiquiti. But they seem horrible. We paid $350 per device and been nothing but nightmare. Slow connections. Lots of drop outs.