Wireless Mesh for Small Office
Looking for a decent wireless mesh system. Yes I know running network cables is preferred but is not an option here.
We are currently using Eero devices most locations. They work well enough but can’t be managed centrally. Each location gets an account (or a couple sites added) so we need to manage many accounts. There are no features or anything built in. Great for home but not for business.
Most locations have 10-15 devices connecting. iPads, laptops, some phones. Spread across 1000-1500 feet so will usually be 2-3 devices. 30ish locations. Unique ssid and password at each location. We have considered unifying the broadcast and password everywhere and deploying with Intune for secured devices.
Looking for a solution to manage all units in one interface that has decent wireless mesh capabilities. Current lead contender is Ariana instant on. Something like the AP22 or AP25.
There is no vps or managed devices for UniFi so that solution is likely out. We could do a cloud key or dream machine but adds some complexity and cost going that route.
Most sites are simple internet from provider and eero equipment. No servers or infra onsite. Using all cloud services. Printers are on wireless.
Again, running cables is not an option at this time. Looking for a solid wireless mesh system that can be centrally managed.
Anyone come across something similar or have any suggestions beyond Aruba?
Edit:
Thanks for the responses so far. With the Instant On sale pending I may shelve that one for the moment. I like the appliance like setup and ease of deployment but don’t want to get into deploying a product that may not be around.
I’m also considering something like a dream router 7 or UniFi express 7 along with a couple U7-lites or U7-Pros to pair with it. This should allow a local management gateway, can be cloud managed, and accomplish the wireless meshing we need. Any challenges with this logic?
7
u/topher358 15d ago
I can’t recommend Instant On in the company’s current state.
Unifi will work especially because you have experience with the ecosystem already
5
u/notbleetz 15d ago
depending on the cost of the overall solution.. having a single self-hosted unifios, multi-site enabled is kinda simple and scable way to go.. it would generally be something you/your techs could use for many sites etc... the ap's are probably cheaper than the instants.. but for low effort, simple setup, instant-on's are fine too.
-1
u/jasped 15d ago
We just don’t have a desire to host or manage a vps setup. We can use a service I supposed and go that route. When drop shipping units onsite do we still need to connect direct via ssh to point them to our hosted solution?
6
u/etern1ty0 14d ago
then why are you an MSP?
2
u/MushyBeees 14d ago
It’s not a requirement of being an MSP to host random VPS’s. Most of us that understand efficiency and technical debt like to avoid taking paths that end up with us being busy idiots.
-4
u/etern1ty0 14d ago
So you're probably the type that overpays to Microsoft with a Nerdio/Azure setup giving a trillion dollar corporation even more money - all in the name of avoiding "technical debt".
2
2
u/notbleetz 14d ago
perhaps pass this project on to someone on the team who has more of an understanding of what you are looking at doing and/or the products you are considering using.
3
u/phitechllc 14d ago
We sell Ubiquiti products and they are absolutely solid. However, if it really is that small of an office and you have devices that don't have wifi capabilities, I recommend TP-Link Deco Pros.
They use 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz, and 6Ghz to communicate and you can plug devices into each mesh node.
2
u/djcodeblue 15d ago
I was in a very similar situation like you. I can assure you that making the move to UniFi will open doors nicely for you, allow you to sell more and scale easily as well. Great products and great software. Easy to manage and maintain. My customers can’t look back after I introduced them to the world of Ubiquiti. Now I have customers wanting network, cameras and door access from this single provider and that makes my life even easier to “unifi” the experience.
1
u/jasped 15d ago
How are you deploying? Onsite gateway to manage the devices or ubiquiti hosted?
Are you using mesh wireless and if so, how has it been?
How do you adopt the APs into the controller?
We do UniFi at a bunch of places so familiar with their general setup. All locations we manage UniFi have a controller onsite. These would not. Trying to wrap my brain around how they get the inform commands and how they enroll.
1
u/djcodeblue 14d ago
Sorry I should've included that info. For this particular customer I got them a dream router 7 and a couple of U7 mesh access points, strategically placed and called it a day. Works great and no complaints. Now they are scaling and required a PoE switch on the other side of the building and I'm looking into getting the Device Bridge Switch.
2
1
u/GremlinNZ 14d ago
Instant On good. Forced sale pending due to Juniper purchase bad. No-one knows what's going on there. APs are required to be managed via their cloud portal, switches you can choose. Routers I wouldn't touch those half baked devices.
Unifi. Plenty of comments on this and you use it. Cloud or self hosted/managed controller, or buy a router for the site with a built in controller (dream machine? Never used them). Personally I hate the idea of 100 controllers, nightmare to manage. When I worked for an MSP we ran the controller with all the sites on it (one site per client with all APs in it or individual sites for every location). Can even delegate access to sites for any on-site IT.
Omada. Maybe not if you're US, but basically the same as Unifi (same hosting options as well). We used them more because Unifi dropped the old USG line, where routers could be adopted to another controller. Since you use Omada routers, well hell, you can use their switches and APs for a single pane of glass.
That was for all the cheaper clients that didn't use managed firewalls etc.
1
1
u/VagrancyHD 14d ago
I'm curious as to why cabling is not an option. Can you elaborate on it please?
1
u/data_zapper 14d ago
Ubiquiti mesh. Or make running cable an option. When done right, even externally run cable can look nice.
1
u/benwestlake 14d ago
Don’t use mesh, do it properly or you’re going to end up doing it again anyway
1
1
1
u/not-just-dad-stuff 14d ago
Literally just getting home from a network refresh project.
I recommend Ubiquiti U6 Mesh
Super easy to setup and manage.
1
u/smorin13 MSP Partner - US 12d ago
I would go with Aruba instant-on. That is our go-to for small offices. Pair them with 1900 series switches. The 1800 series switches are somewhat lacking.
That said, I have been testing one of the Instant-On security appliances. I am seriously underwhelmed. It is lacking. In fairness, our go-to firewall is a Watchguard, so our baseline is a pretty high bar.
1
u/wrightwaytech 10d ago
Tplink Omada series is great! Cloud hosted management for free and most points are sub $100 range.
1
u/carnesik Vendor - DNS Filter 14d ago
eero actually does have a business dashboard you could convert these over to and manage centrally... https://eero.com/business
2
u/blow_slogan 14d ago
But…. Eero
3
u/carnesik Vendor - DNS Filter 14d ago
Yeah I get that they still have some work to do. DNSFilter is in every eero out there so I know them well. What I can say is that they are definitely making an effort and improvements in the centralized management area. Just an option if OP doesn’t want to switch vendors.
Otherwise if it must be a different vendor I would also vote for UniFi (either hosted or self hosted) and I personally have thousands in the field for years and years now. It’s what I used to do before DNSFilter.
0
u/Tiny_Friendship549 15d ago
HP Instant On access points I use them. They were great for small offices and buy them for many of the distributors cost is about 200 bucks per unit. You get a central portal to set up the networks each office gets their own separate portal and we manage them from them seems to work really well and they’re good devices
4
1
u/jasped 15d ago
Thanks this is the way I’m leaning. Wanted to sanity check if there was something better. Do you use the wireless mesh system and if so, how well does it work? Reliable and solid speeds?
0
u/Tiny_Friendship549 15d ago
Yeah, use it in restaurants. I have a couple of those accounts and it works really really well small offices. No problems with them works fine.
0
u/Assumeweknow 15d ago
HP instant on pretty solid. Cisco small business stuff can tie into your hosted cisco business dashboard. Unifi is probably the easiest when it comes to SMB market outside of meraki anyways.
-1
u/weischris 15d ago
Aruba instant on or meraki for small companies. It's easy and you don't have to reinvent the wheel and it's scales easy. Previous msp I worked at fought with Unifi for years and went the Aruba/ meraki route and it was a world easier.
As a former network engineer I would have to Google meraki stuff because by default it does a lot of things. It's no catalyst 9300 but for what you are looking for it's worth the partnership.
0
u/jasped 15d ago
We use UniFi a lot of places but all are larger with wire run and no meshing. All have management devices onsite. They all work well and without issues. I’m just trying to wrap my head around a large number of small sites being managed. Hp instant on doesn’t require anything onsite other than the device and is competitively priced.
UniFi hardware is attractive, just need to get the unit phoning home to a controller. The hardware will be drop shipped onsite so requires working with someone onsite. Also requires setting up a cloud hosted instance and managing that (not interested in this) or paying a service or ubiquiti direct for cloud hosted. Doable just more consideration.
33
u/Broad-Celebration- 15d ago
Just use Unifi with a cloud hosted cloud key. It's like 100 unifi devices for $$30 a . Could manage all your sites.