Valuable Features
Since these APs are controller-less they are very dependable and easy to configure. Other features that add value to our institution include deployment planning tools, load-balancing, auto-channeling, auto-power, Cooperative Control Protocols, Firewalls, QoS, to mention a few.
Improvements to My Organization
Ease of use and features are its strongest points.
Room for Improvement
Sometimes, packing a wide array of feature into these APs might overtax them. They would benefit from creating more powerful APs (Processing-wise)
Use of Solution
Deployment Issues
We started with a small deployment of 300 APs in 2010. Our campus now has ~1400 and we plan to expand to 2000 in the next 2 years.
Stability Issues
When we installed the latest firmware versions on these APs, sometimes we encountered major/minor bugs that would force us to roll back until an appropriate patch was released. Also, with some bleeding-edge AC units we had some problems when they were under high client-loads were new clients would be unable to associate to the APs.
Scalability Issues
Not really. We simply had to buy a more powerful Hive Manager appliance when we went over the 1000 AP mark, but other than that, this product scales very easily.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Customer Service:
I would rate it at 10 out of 10 as their staff is very polite with customers.
Technical Support:
I would rate their TAC team at 9 out of 10 as some of their Tier 1 engineers needed more experience and/or training.
Initial Setup
The initial setup is very easy. the APs automatically find our local Hive Manager and make it very straight-forward to configure.
Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing
Day to day cost is minimal, as these APs don't fail very often. The initial setp was a bit pricey as well as our expansion (if you calculate at around $1200 per newly deployed AP, including wired lines)
Other Solutions Considered
I'd highly recommend this product if they're looking for feature-rich APs that are easy to deploy & manage.
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