network Mesh vs. Acces Points

[Goofyx42]

Hello Fellas,

so I just want your opinions of mesh removing access points

or do you think, and maybe proof with stats, that access points will stand

 

greetings

Goofy

[Lurick]

What? A mesh network is made up of access points, they aren't going away as they still have the full functionality as if they were in standalone AP mode as when they are in mesh mode.

 

Edit:

If you're asking if standalone APs will go away in favor of mesh, the answer is pretty much no, at least not from an enterprise perspective. Maybe for home users who want coverage at the price of some speed, sure, home users might move towards more mesh solutions but a mesh solution is still made up of access points, they just communicate via wireless instead of directly with a wire.

[Enderman]

The mesh is literally just a bunch of access points.............

[Senzelian]

10 minutes ago, Lurick said:

What? A mesh network is made up of access points, they aren't going away as they still have the full functionality as if they were in standalone AP mode as when they are in mesh mode.

 

Edit:

If you're asking if standalone APs will go away in favor of mesh, the answer is pretty much no, at least not from an enterprise perspective. Maybe for home users who want coverage at the price of some speed, sure, home users might move towards more mesh solutions but a mesh solution is still made up of access points, they just communicate via wireless instead of directly with a wire.

I'd argue it's the other way around and standalone APs are here to stay for home users, while more expensive and reliable mesh solutions will be implemented in the enterprise market.

[Lurick]

12 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

I'd argue it's the other way around and standalone APs are here to stay for home users, while more expensive and reliable mesh solutions will be implemented in the enterprise market.

Mesh is much harder to manage and deal with in the enterprise with hundreds or thousands to manage. You have to deal with stranded APs as well in mesh mode and it's just not easy to manage. Also with the push towards higher density APs like WiFi 6 which need 2.5Gbps or 5Gbps to handle tons of clients that's even less of a reason to go mesh.

 

Edit:

And I forgot about power too, since most dedicated APs can utilize PoE power and you'd have to run power bricks to all the APs anyway, that would kill it for most applications since if you're going to run something why not ethernet. Sure there are some cases where mesh might make sense if you can't get ethernet but can get power but that's more niche than anything.

[Acedia]

On 5/16/2019 at 11:46 PM, Senzelian said:

I'd argue it's the other way around and standalone APs are here to stay for home users, while more expensive and reliable mesh solutions will be implemented in the enterprise market.

Nah. You just get an electrician, tell him I need 200 drops and hook up those APs while you're at it. Connect them to your PoE switch and the APs get controlled by your WiFi Controller.