<div>No experience with DLink but use Xirrus. It is pricey but Xirrus does offer Education pricing which is a sizeable reduction in price. I'm also surprised at your comment about Xirrus central management. They provide a central management console which controls everything. Before installation, Xirrus run a site survey and specify placement. Of course in older schools (ours included) the placement of arrays to get full coverage can be tricky but they do try to work around obstacles, such as mounting arrays vertically rather than horizontally, etc.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I realise that Xirrus isn't the be-all and end-all and that there are a number of emerging products from other manufacturers I'm sure that other contributors will have different ideas.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Peter Dwyer, St Kevins College<br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On 13 May 2010 18:56, Paul Williamson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:paulw@huntingtower.vic.edu.au">paulw@huntingtower.vic.edu.au</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
<div lang="EN-AU" vlink="purple" link="blue">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">I’m just wondering if anyone has experience with DLink’s DWL-8600AP’s and Unified Wireless switch (DWS-4026)?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">We’re looking at upgrading our entire wireless network and they have come back with very attractive pricing. (around $615 per access point)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">My personal experience with DLink has not been good, however my only experience is with their consumer-grade products. The issue was the power supplies always failed and products were flaky- had to be rebooted regularly.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">Naturally DLink agrees that the consumer grade products are pretty rubbish, the main thing they cut cost on is the PSU. But these are supposedly ‘business grade’ so should be fine. There is a limited lifetime warranty (supported until 5 years after the products EOL).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">We’re also looking at Xirrus. We currently have 3x XN4 units (4 radios) working fine, but we don’t have central management of them, and they are bloody expensive. $18,000 for 3 of them. The other issue is they are directional and where we need to provide G and N wireless, if you are not in the right quadrant of coverage, too bad.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">Open to thoughts, and maybe any other centrally managed wireless solutions we should look at.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">Many thanks and best regards,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #1f497d"><br></span><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #013366">Paul Williamson</span></b><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #1f497d"> </span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #009aff">ICT Manager</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: #009aff"> <br>
</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: #1f497d"><img height="50" alt="Huntingtower School" width="305"></span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: #1f497d"><br></span><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #009aff">T</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #003366"> +61 3 9831 9463 </span><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #009aff">F</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #003366"> +61 3 9888 1089</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: #003366"><br>
</span><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #009aff">E</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #003366"> </span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: #1f497d"><a href="mailto:paulw@huntingtower.vic.edu.au" target="_blank"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #003366; TEXT-DECORATION: none">paulw@huntingtower.vic.edu.au</span></a><br>
</span><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #009aff">W</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #003366"> <a href="http://www.huntingtower.vic.edu.au/" target="_blank">http://www.huntingtower.vic.edu.au</a></span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: #1f497d"><br>
</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #003366">77 Waimarie Drive, Mount Waverley, Victoria 3149, Australia</span><span style="COLOR: #1f497d"> </span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"></span></p></div>This e-mail is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify me immediately by return e-mail or telephone, and destroy the original message. Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure that material contained in this e-mail is free from computer viruses or other defects, the attached files are provided, and may only be used, on the basis that the user assumes all responsibility for use of the material transmitted. _______________________________________________ <br>
<a href="http://www.edulists.com.au/" target="_blank">http://www.edulists.com.au </a>- FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe <br>Technical Mailing List kindly supported by <br><a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/" target="_blank">http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au </a>- Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and <br>
<a href="http://www.vitta.org.au/" target="_blank">http://www.vitta.org.au </a>- VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc</div></blockquote></div><br>