Using multiple R310's with R500?

[charles_stuetz]

I am researching hardware before purchasing. Attempting to replace a network in a large home. I'm planning to use four R310's and one R500. I plan to set this up with Unleashed. Will these AP's work together? Will Unleashed support this? Can I include one R310 completely wireless, without an ethernet connection? I appreciate any advice you can offer. Thank you.

[DarrelRhodes]

Hi,

Unleashed has support for a mixed environment of different AP models.

However the R310 does not support SmartMesh, so you would not be able to deploy this particular model without an Ethernet connection.

The R500 supports SmartMesh, can you deploy 2 x of these instead (1 x  Master + 1 x Slave)?

I hope that helps,
Darrel.

[charles_stuetz]

Thanks Darrel!
That does help to clarify.

So, I'm thinking this will work... 
1x R500 Master (wired ethernet)
1x R500 Slave (wireless mesh)
3x R310 Slaves (wired ethernet) 

Will these work together as one network (single SSID)?
Does the wireless R500 Slave have to be within range of the R500 Master?
Or can the wireless R500 Slave receive it's signal from one of the R310's?
If so, I'll probably have to go with R500's for all five AP's, huh?

Thanks again,
Charles

[DarrelRhodes]

Hi Charles,

I'm glad that helps!

R500 APs will potentially give you better performance but it depends on what type and how many clients you have and the environment they are operating in (interference, multipath, etc,). Also if you have all R500's then you can move APs around or have a single spare in case of an unlikely failure.

However the list you mentioned will work fine. I've changed the description to reflect our terminology - (apologies for not doing so properly in my original message):

1x R500 Root AP (wired ethernet)
1x R500 Mesh AP (wireless mesh)
3x R310 AP (wired ethernet)

The Mesh AP has to be within range of the Root AP, which in the mixed-model scenario above must be an R500.

Yes these APs will not only work as one network from a client point of view but will also be a single network in terms of management.  The point of Unleashed is that you configure a 'Controller' AP and this will push configuration and provide management and monitoring for all the APs on the LAN.  You can deploy multiple SSIDs and any client connected to an SSID you've configured will roam seamlessly between the APs, providing you have sufficient signal overlap.

Many thanks,
Darrel.

[charles_stuetz]

Thank you so much Darrel.
You have been extremely helpful.
Also, thanks for correcting the terminology (I'm still learning).

I think I'm going to need at least three R500's, in order to keep the Mesh AP within range of the Root AP, and still have another with an extra ethernet port where I need it on the other side of the house.

I can now order hardware confident that my client's requirements will be met.

Thanks again,
Charles