[177650] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Recommended wireless AP for 400 users office
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jared Mauch)
Thu Jan 29 15:08:29 2015
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
From: Jared Mauch <jared@puck.nether.net>
In-Reply-To: <13255767.2314.1422561386919.JavaMail.mhammett@ThunderFuck>
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2015 15:08:18 -0500
To: Mike Hammett <nanog@ics-il.net>
Cc: nanog@nanog.org
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
You can manually adjust the UAP radios to reject clients, but things =
like the LR are really only useful in an outdoor setting, or =
environments that have sparse clients.
=
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Configuration-Examples/UniFi-Set-minim=
um-RSSI-for-clients/ta-p/522637
It=E2=80=99s really an ugly hack and I wish they would allow it to be =
set under the site or AP.
For my home environment, my iPhone thinks it can see the AP up to 1/4 of =
a mile away with a normal UAP-PRO, which is not really the case as the =
client doesn=E2=80=99t notice the signal fade as quickly as one would =
expect.
- Jared
> On Jan 29, 2015, at 2:57 PM, Mike Hammett <nanog@ics-il.net> wrote:
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> They should have never made the LR models. Louder radios don't work =
with today's mobile clients. It's antenna or nothing.=20
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> The pricing is old as well. It hasn't changed since it debuted.=20
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> A platform that manages handoffs would mitigate that issue. Mobile =
devices really suck in that regard.=20
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> -----=20
> Mike Hammett=20
> Intelligent Computing Solutions=20
> http://www.ics-il.com=20
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> ----- Original Message -----
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> From: "Sean Harlow" <sean@seanharlow.info>=20
> To: "Mike Hammett" <nanog@ics-il.net>=20
> Cc: nanog@nanog.org=20
> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 1:50:20 PM=20
> Subject: Re: Recommended wireless AP for 400 users office=20
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> I have had this same behavior at my UniFi pilot site. What I =
discovered in my case was a combination of bad behaviors in both the =
UniFi unit and Android.=20
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> Long story short Android really wants to hang on to a WiFi signal as =
long as it can and does not seemingly scan for other signals when =
connected. If it sees even the slightest bit of a signal from the access =
point it's connected to it doesn't give it up. I can replicate this =
behavior on every Android device I have where I can walk across a =
building and pass through 2-3 other "cells", even others on the same =
channel, and still see my device connected to the AP I started on in the =
UniFi control panel until it completely loses signal.=20
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> This behavior then interacts poorly with UniFi in that it seems to be =
very willing to keep trying to get the data through to the distant =
client and queues up everything else until it either succeeds or =
possibly times out.=20
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> Presumably if ZHR worked this would effectively work around the issue, =
but as already noted it has its own issues that reduce its utility in a =
crowded environment. Our solution has been to stop using the "Long =
Range" units and install more small cells to minimize the impacted area =
if this does occur, plus ensure that any Android devices are set to =
sleep their WiFi when the display is off (this is often set by default). =
The customer we were testing with had a few tablets that needed to be on =
most of the time, but they switched to Windows devices for unrelated =
reasons and basically eliminated the problem.=20
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> There is apparently some way to have the APs drop clients that are =
below a certain signal threshold now, but I haven't looked in to it in a =
while as it hasn't really been an issue.=20
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> ---=20
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> Overall my experience with UniFi is positive, if you have relatively =
simple needs they'll usually get the job done. You'll probably need a =
few more access points than you would with another solution, but they're =
generally a fraction of the price so it still often works out. If you =
need your wireless to get fancy or handle a high number of clients on a =
single AP look elsewhere. Needing to work on 5GHz also changes the value =
equation as those units are significantly more expensive than the plain =
2.4GHz 802.11n units.=20
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> On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 10:53 AM, Mike Hammett < nanog@ics-il.net > =
wrote:=20
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> Did you figure out why it was dropping out? All of it dropping out? =
Just some APs dropping? Just some users dropping?=20
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> -----=20
> Mike Hammett=20
> Intelligent Computing Solutions=20
> http://www.ics-il.com=20
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> ----- Original Message -----=20
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> From: "Paul Stewart" < paul@paulstewart.org >=20
> To: "Mike Hammett" < nanog@ics-il.net >, nanog@nanog.org=20
> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 8:34:46 AM=20
> Subject: RE: Recommended wireless AP for 400 users office=20
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> I had a bad experience with it one time at a tradeshow environment. 6 =
access points setup for public wifi. The radio levels were quite good in =
various areas of the tradeshow however traffic would keep dropping out =
at random intervals as soon as about 300 users were online. It wasn't my =
idea to use UBNT but it definitely turned me off of their product after =
digging into their gear...=20
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> Again as someone pointed out, for residential and perhaps SOHO =
applications it can probably work well - and in my opinion it's priced =
for that market.=20
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> Paul=20
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> -----Original Message-----=20
> From: NANOG [mailto: nanog-bounces@nanog.org ] On Behalf Of Mike =
Hammett=20
> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 8:23 AM=20
> To: nanog@nanog.org=20
> Subject: Re: Recommended wireless AP for 400 users office=20
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> What problems have you had with UBNT?=20
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> It's zero hand-off doesn't work on unsecured networks, but that's =
about the extent of the issues I've heard of other than stadium density =
environments.=20
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> -----=20
> Mike Hammett=20
> Intelligent Computing Solutions=20
> http://www.ics-il.com=20
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> ----- Original Message -----=20
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> From: "Manuel Mar=C3=ADn" < mmg@transtelco.net >=20
> To: nanog@nanog.org=20
> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 11:06:39 PM=20
> Subject: Recommended wireless AP for 400 users office=20
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> Dear nanog community=20
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> I was wondering if you can recommend or share your experience with APs =
that you can use in locations that have 300-500 users. I friend =
recommended me Ruckus Wireless, it would be great if you can share your =
experience with Ruckus or with a similar vendor. My experience with =
ubiquity for this type of requirement was not that good.=20
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> Thank you and have a great day=20
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