Aruba Instant On - questions

[wesley]

Hello

I'm looking to replace the WiFi at work with Aruba Instant On, 6 X AP22

We have 5 different WiFi router for each floor with separate SSID (LOL) it was setup by the previous IT guy. Roaming around the building was awful!

So time to replace the WiFi with one WiFi SSID.

Aruba Instant On look very promising but I have some questions.

Will the wireless devices obtain IP from from Aruba AP and behind the NAT?

We have DHCP server on standalone server 2016 for about 30 PCs on site.

I rather to have the wireless devices and their own IP range behind the NAT?

Also, Guest WiFi SSID, I would like the guest WiFi isolated from the network due the security reason. Is it possible?

Many thanks

Wes

 

[WJA96]

Will the wireless devices obtain IP from from Aruba AP and behind the NAT?

No, they will most likely get an IP from a DHCP server running somewhere on the network. Everything behind the firewall will likely be 'behind' the NAT.

I rather to have the wireless devices and their own IP range behind the NAT?

That's doable but slightly more work to set up. You'll want either a separate VLAN or a separate routed block of IP addresses either on the same subnet or a different subnet.

Also, Guest WiFi SSID, I would like the guest WiFi isolated from the network due the security reason. Is it possible?

Yes. The only question is whether Aruba Instant-On creates it's own Guest VLAN or if you have to configure it yourself and apply it.

This is one area where Ubiquiti Unifi really makes your life easy.

 

[Caged]

Instant On can do a guest network without issue, but it might be worth looking at the normal Aruba IAPs as well. They aren't much more expensive than Instant On but doesn't rely on the cloud for anything, has a lot more tweakable options, and can be expanded to use Aruba Central at a later date if you want to integrate things like Azure AD auth, manage multiple sites etc.