Looking for top-tier Wi-Fi options? APs, controllers, and stats reporting—what do you need?
Looking for top-tier Wi-Fi options? APs, controllers, and stats reporting—what do you need?
Here’s a revised version of your text:
- This is exactly the kind of data you were seeking. We won’t receive a solid recommendation until we publish an RFP and have potential suppliers conduct site evaluations. I was simply aiming to understand what other Enterprise setups people had worked with and appreciated. This reflects the impression I’ve gathered from MSPs and IT vendors I’ve spoken with regarding networking equipment. Many of them don’t treat Ubiquiti in the same context as Cisco or similar brands. I looked at the pricing for the C9115, and wow—it’s far from affordable! Cisco will certainly be among the proposals we receive, as one of our main suppliers is Softchoice, a prominent Canadian IT solutions provider that strongly promotes Cisco. Whether we can afford it will depend on the RFP details.
- I’ve heard positive feedback about Fortinet firewalls. We currently use a Cisco Firepower firewall that won’t be replaced soon, so whether a Fortigate would fit depends on cost and how competitive it is against other OEM Wi-Fi controllers. We’d likely need more than eight access points, though figuring out if we’d require them in tunnel mode is another matter. We probably would—since we already use Tunnel mode with our Mikrotik APs for a Captive Portal handling public traffic. That seems like a solid option overall, but we might run into limitations.
- We’re considering Fortinet as an alternative to our existing Cisco equipment. The main concern is whether the device limits would pose a problem. With 43 APs already in place across all locations and plans to open another branch within five years, we’d need to evaluate other series that require licensing. We also have Meraki L3 and L2 switches at one site, which perform well and rarely cause issues.
- We’re happy with our current Meraki infrastructure, including the MDM setup for iPads and most of our cameras being AXIS models. No major complaints there. If the RFP fits within our budget, this could become a top choice. Thanks for the insights—great advice!
- It’s interesting we’re exploring options like VM solutions; earlier this year we upgraded our VM cluster to a triple host configuration with 10C/20T APs and 192GB RAM, all running ESXi 7. We don’t have SSD storage yet—our VM datastore relies on a 2.5" HDD SAN over 10GbE with 14 drives in RAID6. Performance is decent but still far from SSD speeds. How does Ruckus compare to Mikrotik?
- I understand they’re both brands under the same parent company and target different market segments. We tend to avoid “all-in-one” products because, as a library, we manage capital expenditures over decades, so replacing everything at once isn’t practical. Typically, firewalls, switches, and APs are purchased separately—though they sometimes align. Our goal is to prevent unnecessary costs that duplicate hardware we already own (like firewalls or gateways) unless the savings justify it.
- I’m impressed with the Meraki equipment we currently use. This matches what I’ve experienced. Our Mikrotik APs perform well, and we’ve never faced major issues beyond software or configuration. Thanks again for the recommendations!
I believe there’s a lot of mix-up here—Mikrotik is a Latvian brand with no ties to other companies. Ruckus is an American firm that was acquired by CommScope and then sold to Broadcom, where it now operates. Ruckus originally came from a partial takeover of Brocade, but its APs have always been built independently. They mostly rely on custom ASICs or SOCs, while Mikrotik typically uses standard chips from vendors like MediaTek and Broadcom. Many Mikrotik and Ubiquiti products share similar components because they often use the same parts. You might be thinking about Cisco and Meraki, which have kept their hardware and software separate until recently. The new models CW9162, CW9164, and CW9166 let you choose between Cisco and Meraki firmware, and it seems they’re planning to offer similar options for switches that work with Cisco DNA or Meraki setups—or even standalone configurations. Alternatively, you could be considering HPE and Aruba, where HP previously had a wireless product before acquiring Aruba, and Aruba didn’t have a switch line. When HP bought Aruba, they discontinued the MSM AP series and rebranded the switches as Aruba. Other recent moves include Extreme Networks purchasing Zebra Wireless (formerly Motorola Wireless), AeroHive, and Arista acquiring Mojo Networks. Regarding Arista or AeroHive-based solutions, you might want to steer clear of Zebra-derived Extreme APs. I can help identify the right choice if you dive deeper into the details.
It seems my understanding was off. I thought Ruckus and Mikrotik belonged to the same company, based on a video where Linus installed an AP for his wife's parents. He mentioned the brands were made by the same firm as another product, though I'm not sure if he was accurate. It could have been a mix-up with Cisco and Meraki, or even HPE and Aruba. The video I recall is likely from before the pandemic. Probably just a memory issue.
I've been searching for the exact name you're asking about for about 20 minutes. It seems Ruckus created a separate line for controller-less networking to compete with Ubiquiti. Their devices used the R500 platform but excluded features like BeamFlex—their patented beamforming technique. They eventually phased out that brand and introduced Ruckus Unleashed, which shares the same hardware as other Ruckus products but includes an internal controller (a simplified version of ZoneFlex). You can also swap firmware between standalone APs, ZoneFlex, SmartZone/Cloud, and Unleashed.
It's been a long wait... I think this phrase appeared in a few other clips from that year too.
I’m not sure where you checked the costs, but remember the listed prices are significantly higher than what you’ll likely afford. The standard price for an access point seems around 600 dollars per unit, including our margin. So it might be smarter to wait for the RFP since online quotes could be inaccurate. I estimate they’ll fall between 500 and 700 dollars each, based on quantity, your vendor’s margin, and similar factors. It could help to keep in mind that larger setups may need a dedicated wireless controller. The built-in one is capped at 100 APs, which might not feel safe right now. If you don’t need a FortiGate and already have a FirePower firewall, a FortiAP probably isn’t the best fit. Running the controller in a VM (FWM-VM) is possible but not common, and I’m sure Fortinet recommends a dedicated FortiGate. Remember there are 25 devices per site; as long as each branch stays under 25, you should be okay—but it’s a big constraint.
Just remember, any list price you see for cisco equipment is not the price anyone pays. If I remember right it's a 30% discount at minimum from list price. It's a stupid thing but that's how it works, lol.
People often pretend they’re big spenders to get volume discounts, so a standard 30% discount is included. This also makes the VAR appear to add value, even though it sometimes doesn’t. A major purchase for an organization is actually a large number of small orders sent to Cisco. Volume discounts really start to matter when you place six-figure orders, or when you enter an Enterprise Agreement (typically around 6 to 7 times the annual spend).
Not an issue – I checked the MSRP on CDW and wasn’t logged in, but we usually get big savings with vendors because of our non-profit/registered charity status. I think it’s around $600 USD, which matches what I’ve seen for APs in Canada. We should be under 100 APs, and even with a new branch opening, it’s unlikely to go past that unless the vendor recommends a specific controller. That makes sense. I’d need to verify if any locations exceed 25 APs, but one is close enough. No worries about that.