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Access network design for branch, remote, outdoor, and campus locations with HPE Aruba Networking access points and mobility controllers.
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Multiple Sites with multiple SSID's: Can we combine SSID's?

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  • 1.  Multiple Sites with multiple SSID's: Can we combine SSID's?

    Posted Feb 20, 2018 03:12 PM

    We have a three campus network.  We have Master controllers at each.  the setup is like this

    Site1: SSID1

    Site2: SSID2

    Site3: SSID3

     

    My Question is it acceptable practice to do the following

    Site1: SSID_NEW

    Site2: SSID_NEW

    Site3: SSID_NEW

     

    Thanks!



  • 2.  RE: Multiple Sites with multiple SSID's: Can we combine SSID's?

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Feb 20, 2018 03:39 PM

    That is a very good idea.



  • 3.  RE: Multiple Sites with multiple SSID's: Can we combine SSID's?

    Posted Feb 20, 2018 04:49 PM

    Is there any best practice documentation anywhere that I can point to?  I am going to have to convice some people that this is worthwhile.



  • 4.  RE: Multiple Sites with multiple SSID's: Can we combine SSID's?

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Feb 20, 2018 07:00 PM

    The most visibile worthwhile thing is that people who go among campuses do not have to maintain 3 different profiles.  There is no documentation about that, because, well, it would make things easier for regular users.



  • 5.  RE: Multiple Sites with multiple SSID's: Can we combine SSID's?

    Posted Feb 20, 2018 07:48 PM

    Was there a reason that it was setup that way in the beginning? There may have been a business requirement that it was setup that way in the first place.

     

    If it was only purely to identify the users by what campus they were on then there a deffinately better ways to do that.

     

    It will certainly as Colin outlined be much simpler for users if they only have a single profile as they move about different campuses.



  • 6.  RE: Multiple Sites with multiple SSID's: Can we combine SSID's?

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Feb 20, 2018 09:54 PM

    something else you may want to consider (if you haven't allready) is to deply something like Aruba ClearPass for network access control.

     

    collapsing multiple networks can be made all the easier when you have the ability to provide role based access through ClearPass (i.e. providing policy based on device trype, authentication type, authentication locaiton, etc.)



  • 7.  RE: Multiple Sites with multiple SSID's: Can we combine SSID's?

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Feb 20, 2018 11:07 PM

    Yo stephencm@cos.edu :-) Great question you have here and everything everyone has replied with is correct.

    I have a few more questions:

    • Are all sites are the same routable network? 
    • Do you guys currently have AirWave? This would make it easier to monitor the multiple sites. 
    • Also, depending on your current controller models, you could migrate to the new 8.0 code and manage the three sites together using the new 8.0 Mobility master architecture. This would drastically ease the management and configuration change process of the three sites.


  • 8.  RE: Multiple Sites with multiple SSID's: Can we combine SSID's?

    Posted Feb 21, 2018 11:39 AM

    Thanks for the replys all!

    The orginal reason for the separation was partially for lack of understanding, and that is what the vendor recommended.

     

    All of the sites are connected by 1GB wan links.  

     

    We do have airwave and would like to utilize it more.

     

    I like the idea of moving to version 8.0, but I think that we have some older AP's that will need to be replaced first.