Wifi solution for gated community

[Julian_Daniels]

I'm working on an opportunity for a gated community and would like to know if the following design idea will work. Deploy P300's on poles in strategic locations around the gated area then mesh a couple of R500 or 7372 towards these units.

Following on this what is the max number of indoor AP's that I'll be able to mesh towards the P300 in a mulitpoint config? The manual is not very clear on this point

[monnat_systems]

Julian,

zd1200/ZD3k Controller is must for MESH. 

P300 will NOT mesh with any Ruckus product as it can't be managed/controlled by a controller + its a p2p/mp product with 30 degree beamwidth

if you still want to go with this deployment type better you got T300 which will meet ur needs.

As far as limit on no's of MESH AP connecting to Root AP, there is no such restriction limit however it is highly recommended that hops shall be up to 3 for better and reliable performance.

I think T300 will NOT mesh with ZF7372 as T300 is a 2*2 ac product whereas ZF7372 is a 2*2n product. Ruckus AP's meshes between same radio type.

[Julian_Daniels]

Monnat, so if I go with a T301 and ZD1200 solution, can you advise if the following is feasible?

T300/301n/301s AP's mounted on poles in the gated community with meshed links towards R500 in the homes. What are the design considerations for these meshed links:
1. How many meshed links can I cater for from a single outdoor AP (T300), is there maximum number or will each link be considered as a client connection then I guess the answer is 500 mesh links...correct?
2. With this design the R500's will be positioned as a CPE being single hop away from the root AP.
3. Do we have a preferred partner for client CPE, since the R500 might not be very cost effective for this solution.

[sid_sok]

Hi Julian,

Some clarification, it's 500 connection per AP, meaning 250 per radio.  MESH is only on the 5 GHz radio, and max number of association count if for non-encrypted station.  With a single wlan using AES you can connect 180 station, and MESH uses WPA2-PSK, so in theory the max number of MEHS is 180, but no other client can connect on the 5 GHz radio at that point.  

Monnat Systems is correct, keep the number of hop as low as possible, no more than 3 is recommended and the number of mesh link device as low as possible, consider the limitation that it is a shared medium, the more association the more overhead there is to consider.  For example of you associate 180 11ac station you won't get (867 Mbps @ 80 MHz/2(overhead) = 430 Mbps/180 clients) 2.4 Mbps per station, given that all things are equal.  If there are variation in client capability, distance, signal strength, etc.  Theory and real world deployment do not necessary line up well.

As for MESH between protocol, 11n and 11ac should be able to mesh together.  I have an R500 mesh to a 7363 which is mesh to a 7363 root AP.