Controllerless Networks

Hi,

We have a small mesh network consisting of a pair of IAP-205:s. One of them is uplink, the other serves as a bridge to a wired device. I'm now planning to get a 205H and place it as uplink, so that we can a) move a couple more wired devices onto the same network and also b) use the freed-up 205 to extend the wireless network.

The question is, does it matter if the new 205H is an AP or an IAP? In other words, can we buy an AP-205H (JW116), have it join the instant controller and configure it as an uplink? Or do we need an IAP-205H (JW216)? I've been studying through the documentation and it seems to me like an AP would do the trick, however I wanted to check this before we buy.

Cheers,
--Martin

If you are planning to buy a 205. Then it has to be an IAP to join the cluster.

 

An IAP will not form a mesh link with controller based network.

 

If you buy an IAP 205 US, you can always convert it into AP 205 to work with controller and revert back to IAP 205 US, upon a factory reset.

 

Vice versa is not possible, due to country code regulations.

Thanks for the quick reply. How about the 203H? It has a downlink port, and the unified AP platform should work with the virtual controller from the two 205:s?

Cheers,
--Martin

203H is a unified platform and can work with IAP-205-US.

 

The correct one you want to order for them to talk to IAP-205-US is:

 

JY695A Aruba AP-203H (US) Flex-radio 802.11ac 2x2 Unified Hospitality AP with Internal Antennas

 

See that its country code is US.

 

Make sure you upgrade the whole cluster to latest 6.5.x code available, to support the UAP.

Thanks, fantastic!

 

I forgot to mention that we are located in Finland and our existing hardware is RW, so I'll go for the AP-203H-RW (JY693A).

 

Cheers,

--Martin

 

Kindly make sure that you set the same country code on all the RW equipment. Else country code mismatch will not let the cluster to form.

 

Thanks.