Wireless Access

Hi,

I'm working at a client to set up their new wireless network. They are consolidating multiple different companies into 1.

In most cases I have < 250 clients per building. In 2 buildings there are >250 clients.

I'm forced to use bridge mode so I cannot use vlan pools. L3 mobility is not an option either.

Will the roundrobin (hash) assignment also work with vlan ranges like in an Instant environment? Or is it possible to do something smart with Clearpass? 

ArubaOS 6.5.1.2

Clearpass 6.6

Thanks,

Erik

Are you still in the design phase?  Bridge mode limits your flexibility and visibility into the network and it is used as the exception and not the rule typically.

Hi Colin,

Project is still in design phase, original design concept was tunneled mode. Lab setup is due this Friday though.

Bridge mode is forced because of WAN design which is out of my control. I was told this morning so it is short notice.

I know you can add vlan ranges to a SSID when in bridge mode. Will this use the hash assignment type like Instant does?

thanks,

Erik

I honestly don't know VLAN pooling is supported in Bridge mode, but if you are considering using pooling and bridge mode, you should use Aruba Instant, which will not require a controller at that site, but will give you more options and flexibility than deploying a controller and having your clients in bridge mode.  Anywhere that you would consider using bridge mode, you should use instant, period.  You can always convert those instant APs to campus APs and use bridge mode if things do not work out.

Thanks Colin,

I don't think Instant will be an option because of the amount of clients/AP's and it could be that the AP's are already ordered/delivered.

A local controller will handle the traffic the same way though. 

I wil discuss this with the architect. Hopefully there's still something left in the budget....

I'll update this thread when a decision is made.

rgds,

Erik

When you say the number of clients/AP, Instant can handle just as many clients/ap as controller-based APs.  If you have APs being deployed at a remote location, instant is the better option than bridged, period.