Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff
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There was a recent thread about wireless access points and I chimed in about how much I like the Ubiquiti routers I use. My organization also uses Ubiquiti access points, but it seems to be time for an upgrade or repair. Some of the access points are dead and are not even found by the Ubiquiti Network Discovery tool. Also, they're in the ceiling somewhere.
SO,
now I'm looking into setting up a new wireless network over a medium sized office building with, say, 30 to 100 clients at a time. We're looking at Ubiquiti equipment.
Questions:
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Are all POE compatible? If I got a cheap refurb gigabit POE switch, would it power my access points?
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Do POE injectors have to be close to the access point, or can I wire them in my server room, between the switch and the patch bay?
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What is a cloud key and do I need one?
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We'd like the wifi network to do single sign on, though it's not strictly necessary. Is it worth the trouble? Do I need any special equipment?
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@captain said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
Are all POE compatible?
Instinct says no, not necessarily.
@captain said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
If I got a cheap refurb gigabit POE switch, would it power my access points?
Probably need to verify compatibility. if it's cheap, it's probably not compatible.
@captain said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
Do POE injectors have to be close to the access point, or can I wire them in my server room, between the switch and the patch bay?
They can be pretty much anywhere along the line IIRC. I used really cheap ones and they reached 100' just fine.
@captain said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
What is a cloud key and do I need one?
No idea, probably only need it to configure auto-cloud-sync-whatever services. shudders I hope they don't require always-on Internet to work, that would suck...
@captain said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
We'd like the wifi network to do single sign on, though it's not strictly necessary. Is it worth the trouble? Do I need any special equipment?
Eh. Pros and cons. Don't really need any special equipment if memory serves, just need a RADIUS server for authentication (there are free ones out there). It's the setting up that's the hard part.
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@tsaukpaetra Thanks. I'm ordering a Ubiquiti AP AC Lite to mess around with (and be the first thing I deploy). It looks like refurb gigabit POE switches aren't so cheap anyway, so while it would be cleaner to just put another switch in, injectors are probably the way to go.
This looks like it could be a fun work project.
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The Cloud Key is just a small computer for running the management software. You can buy one or just install the software on some other box you have lying around.
There are apparently different types of POE. The data sheets give details as to what requires what.
Note the 5-packs don't come with POE injectors.
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The thing that irks me about Ubiquiti for home use is that the security gateway doesn’t run off of POE. I really didn’t need yet another power brick.
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@greybeard said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
There are apparently different types of POE. The data sheets give details as to what requires what.
Yeah. Notably, the AP AC PRO uses a different standard (48V active PoE, IIRC) than the lower-tier models (AP AC Lite and AP AC LR, which take 24V passive).
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Probably hanzo'd but.......
@captain said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
Are all POE compatible? If I got a cheap refurb gigabit POE switch, would it power my access points?
Ubiquiti Access poitns are POE, they come with POE injectors but those are single port. they'll work on any 802.11AF compliant injector switch though.
@captain said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
Do POE injectors have to be close to the access point, or can I wire them in my server room, between the switch and the patch bay?
they have to be connected to the device they are powering by a single Ethernet cable, so the question is how long are your cables
@captain said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
What is a cloud key and do I need one?
it runs the controller software so you don't have to run it on a PC. damn handy, i'd recommend it but it's not needed. you get same functionality running the controller on a PC (is Java app.)
@captain said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
We'd like the wifi network to do single sign on, though it's not strictly necessary. Is it worth the trouble? Do I need any special equipment?
never done it before but you should be able to do RADIUS authentication that would use your domain controller to authenticate.... it's probably possible to do......
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@blek said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
@greybeard said in Where @Captain tries to figure out enterprisey wifi stuff:
There are apparently different types of POE. The data sheets give details as to what requires what.
Yeah. Notably, the AP AC PRO uses a different standard (48V active PoE, IIRC) than the lower-tier models (AP AC Lite and AP AC LR, which take 24V passive).
both are 802.11AF compliant, they just have different passive standards.