Wireless Access

Hi guys,

I am new to Aruba products. I had been tasked to deploy 15 unit of IAP-314 in a coworking space without Mobility Controller to support 6,000 devices. I searched around the forum and understand that there are 2 ways to deploy,

1.) VLAN pooling

2.) Sinlge VLAN architecture

I read the VRD for Single VLAN Architecture for Wireless LAN and prefer this deployment. However, the VRD or threads in this forum always associate with a controller for single VLAN architecture. I wonder the Virtual Controller come with Aruba Instant OS able to do the same thing?

Here are the requirements I have,

1.) Single floor coworking space with 15 IAP

2.) 6000 devices (not concurrent)

3.) Roaming among IAP

Thank you.

if you are deploying as an instant cluster you will have a limitation of 2,000 users/devices on the cluster at one point in time.

IAP's switch traffic locally so you can't provide VLAN pooling.  It also isnt recommnded to use "single VLAN architecture" without a mobility controller, as the Firewall on the MC will provide the optimisations required to support this.

i would also suggest you find out what your concurrent device count is going to be, as you may need to deploy higher end AP's such as the 345 to support a VHD network.

Hi Matthew,

If I have 3 SSID in single cluster, each with /21 subnet. Do I still limit by the 2000 concurrent user/devices? If yes, can I make it to 3 clusters, each cluster broadcast single SSID with a /21 subnet? But I believe this could cause more problem especially on the radio interference.

bursthead,

matthew_gosling has the right idea here.  What kind of structure is this?  Is it a single floor or multiple floors?  Why are you using the 314 (external antenna variant) indoors?  Does this space already exist, or is it new space?

Hi Joseph,

This is a coworking space, a complete new setup on a single floor. My apologize that on the wrong AP model. The correct model is Aruba AP-303 (RW) Unified AP.

The 303 is for lower density applications.  I would consider the 315 if you are having any type of client density. https://www.arubanetworks.com/products/networking/access-points/compare/#59240,66235

What is the square footage of this single floor?  15 access points can be a little too much.

With regards to the single VLAN architecture, that plan is certainly for controller-based deployments where there is much more control over things like gratuitous ARP traffic.  There is a limit to user traffic and broadcasts on an Instant network, because alot of user information is exchanged between access points.  Do you have a real idea of the number of users that will be in the working space with devices concurrently?  It could still be doable, but you would have to have a smaller user count than 6000 and segment your 3 SSIDs to 3 VLANs to segregate broadcast traffic more effectively.

Thank you for pointing out that 303 is for low density applications. As this is the model provide by the client. I do not have the exact number, but judging from the floor plan, which is around 16,000 sqf, I expect maximum will be lesser than 2000 devices connected concurrently.

If I segregate to 3 SSIDs to 3 VLANs in same cluster for 2000 devices, should I broadcast all SSID to all IAP, or separate it by zone? Different SSIDs also mean that user unable to roam from 1 SSID to another SSID, am I right?

The datasheet for the AP-303 is here:  https://www.arubanetworks.com/assets/ds/DS_AP303Series.pdf

Okay, typical high density would mean about 1 access point each 1500 square feet, which would get you at 10 access points, maximum.  Anything more would probably provide too much density in an open floor plan.

If you need all 3 SSIDs everywhere, you should broadcast it everywhere.  Different SSIDs means that users will have to disconnect from one SSID to get to the other, but if your routing infrastructure allows those VLANs to communicate, a user could certainly reach resources on a different VLAN.

Thank you for your information and advise. Please bear with my stupid question as I am new to wireless deployment and Aruba technology.

I know this is not a recommended setup, but assume the worst scenario, client insist to support 6000 devices. If I setup IAP with 3 clusters, where each cluster support a /21 subnet and broadcast single SSID with each cluster. Will this cause some problem on RF management? Since each cluster try to optimize their on RF for their own AP, and they are not aware of another cluster, will they treat IAP from other cluster as rogue AP?

I also came across these documentation and it seems that it is possible to do VLAN pooling in Aruba Instant.

https://www.arubanetworks.com/techdocs/Instant_423_WebHelp/InstantWebHelp.htm#UG_files/vlan_conf/VLANSettings.htm%3FTocPath%3DUG%2520topics%7C_____7

https://community.arubanetworks.com/t5/Controller-less-WLANs/How-do-I-configure-VLAN-pooling-in-Aruba-Instant/ta-p/179078

A VLAN pooling with 8 /24 subnets better than a single /21 subnets which can reduce the size of broadcast domain?

You will have RF issues, because each cluster will see the other cluster as interferring and will not coordinate channels or power.  Each cluster also must have a separate VLAN, so your administrative costs will increase for deployment as well as ongoing upkeep  That will start you off on

poor footing on both the client side and the administrative side.  With everything that can go wrong inadvertently with wireless, you do not want to start introducing things that will make it underperform or harder to manage.

Long story short, planning for a /21 with underpowered access points and incorrect client counts is a recipe for failure.  I would start with the  numbers of employees that will be at a location, the exact square footage at the location and what applications the people will be using.  Forgetting "devices" which seems to be very inflated, we can start coming up with a reasonable plan for this location, as opposed to trying to design to a very inaccurate number.  Very few establishments run a /21 that are not higher education with large concentrations of users.  6000 clients is not practical for the single floor of an organization.

Thank you for your advise. I will channel these informations to the client and the sales team.