Im currently evaluating options for extending our Church's wireless connectivity.
We're also installing a Win 2k8 Domain Controller, DHCP and DNS server.
We need wireless access points that work great with our iOS devices too, and have heard of some issues with cisco's small business range.
I've budgetted enough for about 3 airport extremes connected by reels of Cat6 Ethernet cable around the building.
One issue we foresee is the 50 user limit on the airport extreme..
My question is: How do multiple airports effect the user limit?
If we have 2 airport extremes would we be limited to 50 users? Or 50 per access point? 100 overall…
How about adding an express?
Does 1 extreme + 1 express = 70 users?
Best Answer
It's 50 user per AP, but there's no way for you to load-balance who connects to what AP. Just because you have 3APs doesn't mean you'll be able to have 150 concurrent users. That's only in an ideal world. You really should invest in APs that can auto-loadbalance and do smart channel select.
Depending on how many concurrent users you plan on having, you might need to look at professional grade products from someone like Cisco or Aruba. When you get into hundred(s) of concurrent users in the same place, the quality of APs start to show. Doing wireless at home is cheap, doing wireless in a professional capacity is not. If you have a small budget, then there's not a whole lot you can do, but you certainly get what you pay for in the wifi space.
For what it's worth, I manage a wireless network with a total of over 400 Cisco 1131, 1141, 1040, and 1231 APs and none of them have any problem with iOS devices. I know of colleagues that run similar sized wireless networks on Aruba gear and also have no problems with iOS devices either.