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cisco aironet 1131 disappointing wireless performance

A

alpineranger

Senior member
I was given one of these cisco aironet units (AIR-LAP1131G-A-K9) for work purposes. I was told to plug it into my access point at home and that it would automatically connect and log into my corporate vpn so I don't have to do it on my computer anymore - it's a pilot program the company is running.

I connect it to my trusty Linksys WRT54G, placing it right next to the existing equipment. Imagine my surprise when my laptop can barely get a signal from this new access point, where the linksys signal comes in strong. Regardless of how I change the orientation of the cisco AP, it only got worse (I must have placed it optimally to begin with).

Granted the computer is over 100 feet away and separated by some walls, but I didn't expect the new cisco unit to get so soundly beaten. Does anyone have experience with these units? Perhaps it's not designed to cover a very large area, as I see quite a heavy concentration of them on the ceilings at work. I've used other cisco access points in the past and been surprised by the excellent wireless performance, so perhaps I got a bad unit?
 
Just curious, why would they run a program like this? Isn't it more expensive to establish and maintain something like this where they'd have to provide hardware?

Also aren't people more likely to use the Aironet 24/7, as opposed to a VPN client on their laptops where they'd only connect when they want to do work? Wouldn't this waste their bandwidth?
 
Aironet 1131s are designed to be ceiling-mounted. They work best when lying flat in an elevated spot. Also, you may be too close to it.
 
KingGheedora said:
Just curious, why would they run a program like this? Isn't it more expensive to establish and maintain something like this where they'd have to provide hardware?

Also aren't people more likely to use the Aironet 24/7, as opposed to a VPN client on their laptops where they'd only connect when they want to do work? Wouldn't this waste their bandwidth?
Click to expand...

This is the new virtual work place Cisco has been doing. It's really incredible stuff. Turns a home into a fully functioning office with wireless, voice, video, all secure.

And ditto on changing channels to 1, 6, 11 or probably best to just turn off wireless on the linksys for testing. I easy get wireless 100 yards down the block with my cisco aps at home.
 
KingGheedora said:
Just curious, why would they run a program like this? Isn't it more expensive to establish and maintain something like this where they'd have to provide hardware?

Also aren't people more likely to use the Aironet 24/7, as opposed to a VPN client on their laptops where they'd only connect when they want to do work? Wouldn't this waste their bandwidth?
Click to expand...

It's called the Office Extend AP (OEAP). The AP looks just like the APs at work, so they use WPA2-Enterprise and no config changes are needed anywhere. You can configure the device via a webpage that connects to the controller and not the device itself, and in doing so add additional SSIDs including ones that won't be in the VPN. I assume connections to those SSIDs won't use up corporate bandwidth. The particular deployment I'm participating is a test deployment to stress the controllers and validate the software, so usage is encouraged. I've found that the vpn performance is much better when I don't go through the pc, but that may be due to performance problems I'm having on the pc.
 
spidey07 said:
This is the new virtual work place Cisco has been doing. It's really incredible stuff. Turns a home into a fully functioning office with wireless, voice, video, all secure.

And ditto on changing channels to 1, 6, 11 or probably best to just turn off wireless on the linksys for testing. I easy get wireless 100 yards down the block with my cisco aps at home.
Click to expand...

Linksys is already on channel 11. Turning off wireless is not an option as that would require reconfiguring a dozen computers for various family members. Cisco is on channel 6, and I don't think I can change it as I'm pretty limited in what I can change. I don't want to mount it on the ceiling as I don't have any wiring up there - I assume if it was oriented correctly it could still function decently on a table top or floor?
 
alpineranger said:
Linksys is already on channel 11. Turning off wireless is not an option as that would require reconfiguring a dozen computers for various family members. Cisco is on channel 6, and I don't think I can change it as I'm pretty limited in what I can change. I don't want to mount it on the ceiling as I don't have any wiring up there - I assume if it was oriented correctly it could still function decently on a table top or floor?
Click to expand...

It's got basically a patch antenna on it. Has 180 degrees of gain and virtuall none for the other 180 degrees. Imagine standing directly over it, on the floor, face up. That's the best gain and it goes down every so slight the farther you move away from it in the same horizontal plane.

There's something wrong if you're not getting excellent signal to noise. The wireless controller could be configured to put the AP at a lower than max power. This is done on the controller side and nothing you can do about it.
 
Considering this is a Pilot Program that your employer is running, I would think your best course of action is to talk to the Network Admin running the program. Maybe they botched the config for your AP...
 
seepy83 said:
Educate me...
Over the VPN, the AP is connecting to a controller back at the office, right? And that controller has a config for the AP, right?
Click to expand...

Yep. There isn't really a "config file" per say. It's all dynamic commands from the controller. There is only basic config that the user doesn't control like IP address, address of controllers, certificate, VPN endpoint and that's about it.
 
The ap can be set to least used channel, or any channel manually in the controller, and via templates on the controller. I've set this up in 6.x, which the controller must be running for this feature. Try turning the ap over, or pointing it toward the remote pc.
 
I think it's set manually from the controller, and as I'm just a lowly user, I have to ask the admins to change it. Really, there's no contention on that channel though.

From long distance (albeit distances which are fine for the linksys wrt54g), I have the aironet pointed directly towards where the computer is, with disappointing results. I've taken to moving it to another location 5 feet away from my computer, but this necessitates going over a long and not 100% reliable powerline link.
 
Software based VPN is already provided for company issued computers. In addition remote workers get a cisco 800 series ISR if they want it, and have for years. In both cases where hardware is supplied, it is used as a vpn endpoint and integrates with the corporate VOIP system. Software based vpn can't accomodate voip devices.
 
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