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Campus-wide Wifi Network Design

1088 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  agbe981
I want to design a campus wifi system that will have multiple SSID-VLAN(Student, Staff and Guest) over point to multipoint links. they will be authenticated with a radius server(Freeradius). the access point(APs from LigoWave) will be managed by a centralized software controller. should all the APs be connected to Trunk ports since they will be carrying multiple VLANs or access ports will be fine? on what VLAN should the controller, Freeradius and the APs be on? the main router will be a MikroTik router which will give out DHCP to all the vlans

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This is a loaded question as there are so many variables which are not captured by your initial post. A site survey is a requirement to even think about how to proceed in setting up the design. The fact you are asking some basic questions means you need professional services help.

I've never heard of LigoWave. I don't know where you are but the major players in the wireless space are Cisco, Aruba Networks, Meraki (Cisco company), Ruckus, Aerohive, Ubiquiti, and a few others. All of these companies have the ability to provide presales consultation to discuss general design work. They may even be able to assist with a basic topology design. Most of them either have in house professional services or a partner that can provide those services. I highly suggest you take advantage of these services.

But to answer one of your questions about layer 2 connectivity to the APs. You have to look into how LigoWave handles this. I don't know anything about them so I won't know. I do have extensive Aruba Networks experience. I can tell you none of the lightweight APs require trunk port configurations. You just create a single VLAN for the campus APs which will carry all the AP traffic back to the controller. At the controller is where the specific VLANs that are assigned to each SSID is broken out and placed onto the campus network.
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This is a loaded question as there are so many variables which are not captured by your initial post. A site survey is a requirement to even think about how to proceed in setting up the design. The fact you are asking some basic questions means you need professional services help.

I've never heard of LigoWave. I don't know where you are but the major players in the wireless space are Cisco, Aruba Networks, Meraki (Cisco company), Ruckus, Aerohive, Ubiquiti, and a few others. All of these companies have the ability to provide presales consultation to discuss general design work. They may even be able to assist with a basic topology design. Most of them either have in house professional services or a partner that can provide those services. I highly suggest you take advantage of these services.

But to answer one of your questions about layer 2 connectivity to the APs. You have to look into how LigoWave handles this. I don't know anything about them so I won't know. I do have extensive Aruba Networks experience. I can tell you none of the lightweight APs require trunk port configurations. You just create a single VLAN for the campus APs which will carry all the AP traffic back to the controller. At the controller is where the specific VLANs that are assigned to each SSID is broken out and placed onto the campus network.
https://www.ligowave.com
Yes. I did jump on their website. All I'm telling you is that they are an unknown player as far as I'm concerned in the broad wireless market. They don't even get a mention by Gartner which is one of the industry think tanks which evaluates a company's position in the market.

https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/wired-wireless-lan-access-infrastructure

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Do you really want to hang your hat on a company that doesn't even get a mention from a respected IT think tank?
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Is this the same project as you mentioned in your previous thread?
Is this the same project as you mentioned in your previous thread?
No, this is not a commercial project, but a study one. I want to understand how the logical design will be like in a campus wifi system. I have come up with a design for the previous post which I will share that experience when the project comes on.
I agree with zx10guy that this depends on how ligowave AP handles this, as different brands handle this differently. However, but i can tell you that Ubiquiti and Cisco lightweight AP require a trunk port on the switch for the AP if you want the AP to broadcast multiple SSIDs mapped to different VLANs. It is up to you which vlan to place the controller and RADIUS server in, but ideally you may want to create a separate vlan, such as IT vlan or management vlan, for this hosts. Hope this helps.
I agree with zx10guy that this depends on how ligowave AP handles this, as different brands handle this differently. However, but i can tell you that Ubiquiti and Cisco lightweight AP require a trunk port on the switch for the AP if you want the AP to broadcast multiple SSIDs mapped to different VLANs. It is up to you which vlan to place the controller and RADIUS server in, but ideally you may want to create a separate vlan, such as IT vlan or management vlan, for this hosts. Hope this helps.
i am very greatful for this. Thank you
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