Sowerby, Alasdair wrote:
> Hello All
>
> We’re looking at upgrading our small wireless network by replacing
> some/all of the Linksys residential WAPS we’re currently using with
> enterprise class APs (to overcome the “AP fell over because of too many
> users” issues we’re having) and possibly adding a management
> controller. We’re a small site with only about 20 APs in total and
> authentication/dhcp is already dealt with by a Bradford Campus Manager.
>
> Anyone have any strong feelings either way about Meru products,
> particularly the MC1500 and AP320s? I was thinking of going with Cisco
> Aironets and a 4400 series controller, but have been impressed by the
> Meru sales blurb as well as reading good thing about them in this thread
> not to long ago.
>
> Anyone got Meru/Cisco horror/love stories that they would be willing to
> share with me?
We've been looking at them as well and have found some "interesting"
things about them. They claim that they perform well on the Radio side
because they put each client machine into it's own "logical" cell, and
they can move that cell from physical AP to physical AP without having
to involve the client in a full-scale hand-off. Not the way the standard
is intended to work, but it does. But there's another "trick" they pull
on the wired side: they expect the controller to have an IP address on
each VLAN to which clients can be assigned, and they "fiddle" with ARP
responses so that the clients are told that the MAC address associated
with the default gateway is the controller rather than the real default
gateway, and then they re-write packets to get them to the actual
default gateway for the subnet. This doesn't live nicely on our network,
and may not on yours; watch out for it. OTOH, *if* it all still works
after they've pulled all the tricks they do, they're supposed to be good.
Can't actually verify or contradict this claim...
--
David Pick
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