Decent quality wireless access points required

Mr. Brightside · 22 Dec 2010 at 18:54

Background:

A fairly long bungalow wired with Cat 6 in most rooms that has a pair of ZyXEL G-1000 access points, one at each end of the building.

The problem with the current setup is that the users that have devices that actually use the wireless network (a pair of Dell laptops and a pair of HTC Hero phones) report that the wireless network fails on a regular basis and that they are able to get it working again by restarting the access points.

This makes me suspect that the best course of action will be to replace the access points (since replacing the laptops/phones is not an option anyway).

As such I'd like a couple of recommendations for access points to buy as a pair and replace the existing ones with. Ideally they should be wireless N capable with decent G backward compatibility. If they are N capable I imagine it would make sense for them to each have a Gigabit connection (though the current switch is only 10/100, it makes sense to future proof).

Commercial grade kit I imagine may provide the reliability required, so anything up to £100 per access point I'd like to hear about - but don't let that stop suggestions for cheaper access points too!

Thanks,
Mr. Brightside

Westyfield2 · 22 Dec 2010 at 20:16

Lots of people, myself included, are fans of buying wireless routers.... and by disabling the DHCP function turning them into Access Points. Netgear WNDR3700 is one lots of people use, because as a router it's known for its good wireless performance.

Obviously the above isn't going to rival a proper Cisco Aironet setup, but gives good performance

.

Syx · 23 Dec 2010 at 11:14

Westyfield2 said:
Obviously the above isn't going to rival a proper Cisco Aironet setup, but gives good performance .

For quite considerably less money!

Mr. Brightside said:
Commercial grade kit I imagine may provide the reliability required, so anything up to £100 per access point I'd like to hear about - but don't let that stop suggestions for cheaper access points too!

I make the assumption that "commercial" refers to the kind you get down at PC World - to be honest with the price you've quoted it has to be as the Aironet's we have in the office are at least 5 times that amount.

The option that Westyfeld2 has given would be my choice also. If you're looking for more than just disabling the DHCP to get an access point then that router also supports DDWRT for functionality such as multiple SSIDs etc.
TP Link also do some cheaper models that have similar functionality such as N support with gigabit LAN - there are some here on OcUK so have a look.

Mr. Brightside · 23 Dec 2010 at 15:52

Syx said:
I make the assumption that "commercial" refers to the kind you get down at PC World - to be honest with the price you've quoted it has to be as the Aironet's we have in the office are at least 5 times that amount.

I'd had a brief look at Aironet kit before posting because being Cisco kit I imagined they are good, and found myself they are around £500; way beyond the budget. I then found a Cisco wireless N access point for £100 (WAP4410N) which is really at the upper limit of the budget especially if getting two. That was the kind of kit I meant by commercial (i.e. lower end commercial to keep in budget).

Syx said:
TP Link also do some cheaper models that have similar functionality such as N support with gigabit LAN - there are some here on OcUK so have a look.

I'd also had a quick look at the TL-WA901ND before posting but had never heard of TP-Link and as it doesn't have any reviews wasn't sure. What I was really hoping for was somebody who has one to comment on the quality/reliability.

Aironet was out of the question (I had a quick look for second hand but when filtering results by price to show only those below £200 I found nothing so ruled out that too). Routers as access points are also not an option as I won't be at home for ever and if anyone else (parents/siblings) ever need to reconfigure the network I'd rather avoid the risk of them being confused by there being multiple routers.

So that meant it was a choice between the Cisco WAP4410N and the TP-Link TL-WA901ND. Since I've not been able to find reviews of either and as they both have all the features that would be desirable (N, Gigabit, PoE [cabinet has an APC UPS in so PoE would be good as the wireless network won't fail during power outages if I put the access points on PoE]).

I ended up going with the TL-WA901ND because:
a) not being branded Aironet and having not been mentioned alongside Aironet I don't want to assume the WAP4410N is any good just because it's Cisco; I must also bear in mind it's very cheap for Cisco
b) the TL-WA901N includes a PoE injector - potentially saving money if it does the job - and if all goes to plan, being available from OcUK, should arrive tomorrow
c) if it seems good and covers the house great; if it seems good but doesn't, we can get a second, and if it's no good, for £30 it would have been worth the gamble

Westyfield2 · 23 Dec 2010 at 17:37

Mr. Brightside said:
...I don't want to assume the WAP4410N is any good just because it's Cisco...

It's not Cisco. Linksys by Cisco and Cisco are two very different things!

TP-Link are fine - I'd rate them along with the other run of the mill consumer stuff (Netgear, Linksys, etc.). TP-Link TL-WR1043ND is another popular one people use for turning into an Access Point.

Mr. Brightside · 23 Dec 2010 at 17:42

Westyfield2 said:
It's not Cisco. Linksys by Cisco and Cisco are two very different things!

This thing was clearly branded as Cisco - not a single instance of the word Linksys on the page. I know Linksys and Cisco are not the same though. I think I may have read somewhere while looking into all this that Cisco are retiring the Linksys brand and are going to begin selling Linksys kit as part of the Cisco brand though, so I guess that could explain it.

I get what you are saying though - that the WAP4410N is Linksys grade regardless of what it is branded as. That was what I suspected, due to the price and lack of Aironet designation.

Syx · 24 Dec 2010 at 23:37

Do let us know how you get on with the TP-Link kit. I've got a gigabit switch and the TL-WR1043ND (oddly enough configured as an AP...) with no problems.
Fingers crossed you'll be a-ok; I thought the same thing - for the price it's worth a punt - and it turned out to be fine. In fact I'm even thinking about getting another for a proper wireless bridge!

Mr. Brightside · 25 Dec 2010 at 10:55

Syx said:
Do let us know how you get on with the TP-Link kit. I've got a gigabit switch and the TL-WR1043ND (oddly enough configured as an AP...) with no problems.
Fingers crossed you'll be a-ok; I thought the same thing - for the price it's worth a punt - and it turned out to be fine. In fact I'm even thinking about getting another for a proper wireless bridge!

It arrived and I set it all up yesterday. Seems like a reasonable piece of kit but one is definitely not enough to cover the house, so we've ordered a second one. Will post back when that arrives.

Superficial · 25 Dec 2010 at 11:36

draytek AP700 Wireless N access points - awesome pieces of kit for cheap. business class devices for ~£65.00. I have spent many hours monitorning them with inSSIDer and the signals never drop like other cheaper brands. wireless N 300 too.

Mr. Brightside · 29 Dec 2010 at 17:41

Second one arrived today. Have set it up and now seem to have the whole house covered well. So far no problems, so on that basis would recommend them.

Syx · 31 Dec 2010 at 03:49

Fantastic to hear mate!