If you were deploying all new APs today, N or AC?
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@thecreativeone91 said:
Why does it need to be an all or none? you can upgrade in stages. Get the POE access switches you need now, with gigabit as there's no disadvantage to it (very minor possible cost savings aside). and get your desktop VoIP phones. Worry about Wireless later or when it becomes a need to upgrade. If the current switches have POE and are meeting the need just keep using them.
You're thinking is right, it doesn't need to be an all or nothing. Building 1 is already VOIP with POE switches and could probably continue along just fine for a few more (or many more) years.
But the other two building don't have POE, so they both need a new/replacement solution very soon.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@JaredBusch said:
@Dashrender said:
If I would have done that 8 years ago, and purchased N-Draft APs, my bill instead of being $25K would have been $40K+. Here I am 8 years later, and sure I could use N, but it wouldn't matter because the Wireless Switch and APs are EOLed from Cisco (primary reason to get rid of them) and I'm still running along mostly fine on G, and with my 100 Mb switches, N wouldn't really give me any real advantage. so I would have wasted $15K+.
IMO, EOL of hardware like this is no reason to replace.
If the hardware works and is not causing the business any other problems then there is no reason to change it just because it is EOL.
Do research, in order to be prepared to buy something in case of failure, but do not buy anything now.
I agree. It's time to prepare to spend, not time to spend.
So when do I actually spend? When crisis hits and I'm suddenly down?
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Ok this is just weird...
New postings are showing up in this thread above things I've posted that weren't there before.. clearly my browser is not freshing often enough.
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@Dashrender said:
So when do I actually spend? When crisis hits and I'm suddenly down?
When else do you spend when things are working just fine?
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@Dashrender said:
But the other two building don't have POE, so they both need a new/replacement solution very soon.
Why is PoE needed? Is it a business need or just a tech want? What's the financial driver there?
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@Dashrender said:
If the controller dies, we're sunk. I can't get another, Cisco won't overnight me a replacement.
One of many reasons not to use Cisco. Buying Cisco means a commitment to paying for their support. -
@Dashrender said:
@JaredBusch said:
@Dashrender said:
If I would have done that 8 years ago, and purchased N-Draft APs, my bill instead of being $25K would have been $40K+. Here I am 8 years later, and sure I could use N, but it wouldn't matter because the Wireless Switch and APs are EOLed from Cisco (primary reason to get rid of them) and I'm still running along mostly fine on G, and with my 100 Mb switches, N wouldn't really give me any real advantage. so I would have wasted $15K+.
IMO, EOL of hardware like this is no reason to replace.
If the hardware works and is not causing the business any other problems then there is no reason to change it just because it is EOL.
Do research, in order to be prepared to buy something in case of failure, but do not buy anything now.
If the controller dies, we're sunk. I can't get another, Cisco won't overnight me a replacement. I quite literally will be running to BB to buy some home routers to get us up and running that night, then ordering replacement equipment and installing it ASAP. 80% of our use is wireless, and we have a huge single point of failure (the wireless controller). While management (and I) were willing to deal with a day or less of downtime when a new one was being sent overnight, we no longer have that situation.
You can likely have Ubiquiti AP's overnighted from Amazon. higher end stuff you could get overnight from the company directly.
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@Dashrender said:
If the controller dies, we're sunk. I can't get another, Cisco won't overnight me a replacement. I quite literally will be running to BB to buy some home routers to get us up and running that night, then ordering replacement equipment and installing it ASAP. 80% of our use is wireless, and we have a huge single point of failure (the wireless controller). While management (and I) were willing to deal with a day or less of downtime when a new one was being sent overnight, we no longer have that situation.
That seems like a good reason to upgrade to me, lol... That would fall under preventative maintenance.
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@Dashrender said:
While management (and I) were willing to deal with a day or less of downtime when a new one was being sent overnight, we no longer have that situation.
Why not? You can replace Cisco overnight. What's the difference between getting Cisco replacements overnight versus moving away from Cisco overnight?
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@thecreativeone91 said:
You can likely have Ubiquiti AP's overnighted from Amazon. higher end stuff you could get overnight from the company directly.
Pretty much guaranteed. And a lot of gear, if you plan ahead and are in the right markets, can be same day from vendors like Ingram Micro.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
But the other two building don't have POE, so they both need a new/replacement solution very soon.
Why is PoE needed? Is it a business need or just a tech want? What's the financial driver there?
Depending on their restrictions in the area you might have to provide phones during power outages. If you don't have a building generator. PoE with a good UPS system is the best way.
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@dafyre said:
@Dashrender said:
If the controller dies, we're sunk. I can't get another, Cisco won't overnight me a replacement. I quite literally will be running to BB to buy some home routers to get us up and running that night, then ordering replacement equipment and installing it ASAP. 80% of our use is wireless, and we have a huge single point of failure (the wireless controller). While management (and I) were willing to deal with a day or less of downtime when a new one was being sent overnight, we no longer have that situation.
That seems like a good reason to upgrade to me, lol... That would fall under preventative maintenance.
How does replacing the APs fix the issue? You can upgrade overnight. If the upgrade fails, you fix overnight. What's the benefit of spending when nothing is wrong?
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
But the other two building don't have POE, so they both need a new/replacement solution very soon.
Why is PoE needed? Is it a business need or just a tech want? What's the financial driver there?
Depending on their restrictions in the area you might have to provide phones during power outages. If you don't have a building generator. PoE with a good UPS system is the best way.
Depends. Some places already have UPS at the desk and not in the DC. Most are in the DC and not at the desk, but both (and neither) happen.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
But the other two building don't have POE, so they both need a new/replacement solution very soon.
Why is PoE needed? Is it a business need or just a tech want? What's the financial driver there?
To deploy VOIP phones. If I don't use POE I have to either use a power injector or power bricks at the endpoint, assuming the phones support power bricks.
In some cases I need to ensure the phones say working even in a power outage, so those will need to be on UPS either through the switch or one near the phone.
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@Dashrender said:
While management (and I) were willing to deal with a day or less of downtime when a new one was being sent overnight, we no longer have that situation.
As others have said, with a day as acceptable downtime, you may think about just paying for overnight shipping as part of your DR plan. That would be a discussion with management to inform them enough to decide.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Why is PoE needed? Is it a business need or just a tech want? What's the financial driver there?
@Dashrender said:
To deploy VOIP phones. If I don't use POE I have to either use a power injector or power bricks at the endpoint, assuming the phones support power bricks.
In some cases I need to ensure the phones say working even in a power outage, so those will need to be on UPS either through the switch or one near the phone.I prefer PoE to make things easier, but if the cost difference is such a big driver for you, then you will seriously need to look at whether or not phone X, Y or Z need to be on during a power outage and make decisions from there.
Some of this decision will be made based on the model of Yealink you pick. the current T4X line do not ship with power injectors. SO you have to figure that cost into the phone purchase and that can quickly add up to enough to make the difference between a PoE switch and a non-PoE switch be minuscule.
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@JaredBusch said:
@Dashrender said:
While management (and I) were willing to deal with a day or less of downtime when a new one was being sent overnight, we no longer have that situation.
As others have said, with a day as acceptable downtime, you may think about just paying for overnight shipping as part of your DR plan. That would be a discussion with management to inform them enough to decide.
It's more than just the equipment though. In a straight swap from one piece of gear to the same gear, there is little to no setup needed, just import the old config on the new box, and you're back in business.
I suppose I could purchase a single Unifi AP, get the controller software up and running today with the VLANs I want, and then when I need, just overnight the other APs.
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@Dashrender said:
@JaredBusch said:
@Dashrender said:
While management (and I) were willing to deal with a day or less of downtime when a new one was being sent overnight, we no longer have that situation.
As others have said, with a day as acceptable downtime, you may think about just paying for overnight shipping as part of your DR plan. That would be a discussion with management to inform them enough to decide.
It's more than just the equipment though. In a straight swap from one piece of gear to the same gear, there is little to no setup needed, just import the old config on the new box, and you're back in business.
I suppose I could purchase a single Unifi AP, get the controller software up and running today with the VLANs I want, and then when I need, just overnight the other APs.
You know you don't even have to purchase an AP right? You can download the controller software and do all of these configs and VLANs right now if you wanted to.
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@Dashrender said:
I suppose I could purchase a single Unifi AP, get the controller software up and running today with the VLANs I want, and then when I need, just overnight the other APs.
Actually, you can go setup the controller right now. No AP purchase required. Obviously having one for testing would be better, but the controller is not tied to having an AP active.
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Or maybe buy one Unifi unit a month until they have all been replaced?
