which is the best wireless access point under $1500

[jasonjm]

needa buy a really good access point, business use, high volumes of data from multiple machines.

So, whats the most reliable best one, under $1500 (1500 is not a typo)

any recommendations?

 

[Cooky]

Try Cisco's Aironet 1250.
I haven't personally used it, but I've had great success w/ the 1240's and 1130's.

 

[Czar]

Get a handfull of cisco aironets

have one at home, a bitch to set up but good range

 

[her209]

Build one out of an old box using Linux

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: her209
Build one out of an old box using Linux

Agree
For maybe 500.00 you could build a new box with a dual core 3ghz cpu, hard drives, and a network card + external antenna with amp that would totally blow away any access point you could buy.

Its also going to be far easier to customize.
Look at programs like http://www.clarkconnect.com/index.php, http://www.smoothwall.org/

 

[thecoolnessrune]

I honestly vote against using Cisco AP's because their proprietary systems in uses such as POE's can make them a bitch to setup in networks that aren't already all Cisco, which most consumer networks aren't.

I'm with the other's, building a small box (like a nice SFF box) with a low voltage AMD, a gig stick of mem, a menial 80GB HD, and then putting in a robust network card and using that to run to an antenna with an amp using LMR-400 cabling would absolutely blow away any AP you could buy. You can also upgrade components to make is a NAS, VPN server, whatever.

 

[spidey07]

ummm, cisco uses standard PoE.

Aruba and Cisco rule the professional wireless market for a reason - they're good devices that can do anything you want them to do and really can't be beat.

And LOL! at people suggesting using a PC for an access point.

 

[drebo]

Only certain legacy Cisco devices are built with a pre-802.11af PoE standard, and to use them, all you really need is a patch cable/dongle that reverses the polarity of the pairs that carry power and a dumb PoE switch/injector. PowerDSine makes some, and I can personally vouche for the fact that Dell's PoE switches work with legacy Cisco PoE devices.

A Cisco Aironet is your best bet under any circumstances.

 

[jlazzaro]

aironet + 1...PC as a wireless access point just isnt practical. using it in conjunction with a nas and vpn services is even more ridiculous.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: jlazzaro
aironet + 1...PC as a wireless access point just isnt practical. using it in conjunction with a nas and vpn services is even more ridiculous.

I'm curious why you think that.

 

[vorgusa]

I half agree with that.. mainly cause a lot more can go wrong and you have to find a place to put the PC.. can't really hang it on a wall or ceiling. You could get an appliance like you can get from Soekris and use a Mini PCI-E card to turn that into a wireless AP and it would not be that big and possibly cost less unless you have a bunch of old computers lying around

 

[jasonjm]

well i ordered a cisco 1252 to try out

will tell u all how it goes

 

[spidey07]

Do post back. It's a good AP but it is brand new and has the associated growing pains software wise. Oh, and it's big.

Otherwise it's what all new designs I do are using.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: jlazzaro
aironet + 1...PC as a wireless access point just isnt practical. using it in conjunction with a nas and vpn services is even more ridiculous.

I'm curious why you think that.

First of all its a bad idea because noone wants to build and maintain their own AP's. Second, a hard drive is a horrible idea from a reliability standpoint. The size of even SFF PC's are larger and take more power than a stanard AP. The options are also limited.

 

[skyking]

I'm all for building things, but a cable run to the antenna really kills performance. That's why all the big boys use POE, so they can locate the radio where they want at the end of a single run of network cable, with no cable run at all to the antenna.
It's fine to move authentication and other things to a unix system if you want, that is good learning. I'd leave the radio on the wall up high where it belongs.

 

[jasonjm]

well the cisco 1250 series is very expensive, but really is the best thing I have used so far

6 antennas, 2.4 ghz, 5 ghz, wireless everything, 5 million options in the config section.

Its a very big very heavy unit for an access point, but it is definitely in a class of its own compared to anything I have used before.

I have just ordered another 4 to install in a 40 000 sqft house, house built with lots of steel, marble and thick mahogany wood. Let's see if the 4 can team up and cover/penetrate such a beast of house.

BTW, 1250 was extremely easy to setup, took me about 5 mins total time to configure extensively, (disclaimer, got cisco CCIE 10 years ago, so I would qualify as familar with cisco products)

 

[jlazzaro]

sounds like everything worked out for the best! curious, is your CCIE still active?

 

[jasonjm]

nah my nothing is still active

at one stage I had CCIE, MCSE (multiple), NOVELL, LINUX, etc etc
all I did was use them to get my foot in doors.

Once you working with the equipment all day every day, I don't see any point in keeping the certs active. Only if I had idle time I may do some certs to keep my mind active.
The continued work experience is worth way more than any certification.

Also, Cisco has WAY many more serious competitors now than it used to have. Their routers are still very good, but I prefer competetiors for other tasks, so focusing only on Cisco really doesnt make too much sense.

(juniper for firewalls, although I do still work with pix)
(dell for switching - unbeatable bang for the buck, very fast and very stable, although all the big players insist on using CISCO, even at $20k+ per 48 port switch, so I still work with cisco stacks)
(packeteer for network monitoring)

Cisco for routing, VOIP and I guess access points now.

Anyways those are my preferences.


Wow, I've made 89 posts in 8 years on anandtech, lol, I'm a major contributor round here....