Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Access Points work with OmniAccess WLAN switches/controllers to provide a high performance wireless mobility solution for enterprises. They can be securely deployed in a variety of locations such as on walls, cubicles, desktops, and in the ceiling, and the AP antenna diversity allows for the best possible signal processing using dual, omni-directional antennas.
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Meraki MR
Score 9.1 out of 10
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Cisco's Meraki MR Series is a wireless LAN solution.
Have used Cisco Meraki access point earlier having management on cloud and is on license (subscription basis). But Alcatel OmniAccess Points have management on cloud, on premise as well which means to say flexibility in terms of management. We had one requirement where we …
One of best use cases for using OmniAccess Wire Access Point is where we have dense no. of users as client associated capacity is very good. Also one of the use case is when administrator wants different PSK for each user for authentication. OmniAccess WAP supports in better way.
For less appropriate is going to be large campus. If you have a multi-building site and your needs are going to be in the thousands of apps and thousands of users and devices, it is capable, but you have to do different features. You have to break it out into smaller subsections because it can't handle that type of design. Otherwise, if you were a medium to small size company or your locations don't have high density clients and your AP count can be under 200 per location, this is the probably easiest solution to deploy zero touch. Everything is in the cloud, it comes right up, no programming headaches, and it can be plug and play. You don't even have to be on site if it's a remote site you can't get to.
You have to have license to use them, otherwise they effectively they become trash! It would be good to see a one off standalone license where they don't have any support or access to Meraki dash, but could be reused as a simple standalone AP with limited features.
Cause its intuitive, very clear and easy of use (no brainer) interface. It's whole portfolio in one portal aproach. Also cause the new features cycle release and the cisco Meraki comprehension of WiFi market. Also cause the fastest deployment available on the market that also comes with a easy to scale platform adding features and services in the same interface thats unique and awesome.
To get basic functionality doesn't take long. Set up a new Meraki Dashboard activate the licenses and get internet connection for the APs and you are more or less done. The Dashboard will find your items and you're good to go.
Meraki support is usually top notch. The are quick to respond and stick with an issue until it is resolved. One of the difficulties I've had with Meraki MRs is the limited ability the customer has in troubleshooting. Much of the more technical aspects of resolution can only be accessed by the Meraki support team, meaning dedicated IT teams are reliant on them when more complicated issues arise.
Have used Cisco Meraki access point earlier having management on cloud and is on license (subscription basis). But Alcatel OmniAccess Points have management on cloud, on premise as well which means to say flexibility in terms of management. We had one requirement where we number of user is large which is going to connect on access point but Cisco Meraki only supports 200 users per radio whereas OmniAccess point have better client associated capacity with 524 per radio.
When considering a solution you need you really need to take into account the environments that you are deploying into. If you request something that is fully configurable, then you are more likely to deploy the Cisco Catalyst controller. With the Meraki solution, one of the major selling points is the dashboard and how easy it is to manage. In most cases, the features available in a Meraki solution are sufficient for 80% of customers.
It's really easy just to add an AP to a dashboard. It adopts the config we already have there for everything else. So there's not a lot to configure. I guess it's kind of a one-time setup unless you have some unique use cases to where you want things, maybe not broadcasting from that AP or not. So it's a simple product to use.
Since they are easy to setup, you save a lot on manpower hours.
First you configure an SSID in the Meraki Dashboard and associate it to a tag name(s). Then, when you add a new access point to the network, you just have to associate the tags to it and it will start working. Super easy and time saving when provisioning new access points in the network.
Since the access points report back to the Merak Dashboard, you can easily rule out any network connectivity issues when they are successfully reporting back, which also saves troubleshooting time.
You can also save time by looking at the Meraki mobile App, which also gives you availability and statistical information.
