The Real Cost of 802.11n for the Enterprise

The Real Cost of 802.11n
for the Enterprise
Ruckus Wireless | White Paper 802.11n Wireless LAN Vendor
Cost Comparison
Executive Summary Scenario A: Summary Right sizing wireless LANs (WLANs) for your business and 1,000-User Network Infrastructure Costs for Coverage Only budget is a matter of picking the vendor with the most based on Publicly Available Product Pricing (US$)ef? cient network architecture. Choose a WLAN with inef? cient Ruckus Cisco Meru HP/ Arubaradio frequency (RF) antennas, controller architecture, and Networks Colubrismanagement, and the price will escalate as more components $129,900 $298,700 $299,275 $159,858 $237,805are needed to achieve desired coverage and capacity levels. Annual Support Costs for Coverage-Only Scenario*$25,980 $59,740 $59,855 $31,971 $47,561Wi-Fi runs over an unlicensed RF spectrum. So it is prone * Annual support costs based on 20% of WLAN infrastructure costto wildly ? uctuating performance as conditions change. Automated RF management and control capabilities are required to ensure that performance remains consistent, high, and reliable. Scenario B: Summary 1,000-User Network Infrastructure Costs for Coverage and Capacity Some controller-based vendors require that all data traf? c be based on Publicly Available Product Pricing (US$) backhauled to the controller for forwarding, while others more Meru HP/Ruckus Cisco Arubaef? ciently handle this function in distributed access points Networks Colubris(APs). Scaling controller capacity in tandem with access capacity Comparative WLAN Infrastructure Costs (for Capacity)increases some vendors' system costs. Other "must-haves" or $129,900 $326,785 $515,195 $171,858 $285,190"nice-to-haves" such as mesh networking or voice support may Percentage Increase for Capacity over Coverage Only (from Above)be priced separately. 0% 9% 42% 7% 17%This paper examines the required infrastructure components Annual Support Costs for High-Capacity (B) Scenarioand presents vendor cost comparisons (all public MSRP pricing $25,980 $65,357 $103,039 $34,371 $57,038as of 7/1/2009) for Cisco, Meru Networks, HP/Colubris, Aruba * Annual support costs based on 20% of WLAN infrastructure costNetworks, and Ruckus Wireless for a "typical" enterprise WLAN.
Two scenarios are examined: one for coverage only and the other combining coverage and network capacity. Scenario A provides WLAN coverage for 1,000 users in a 500,000-square-foot space; a mixture of worker cubicles and common areas. Scenario B accounts for both WLAN coverage and a 10Mbps per-client capacity minimum for QoS in a multimedia environment. The aggregation backbone network requirement is 10Gbps with a fully redundant controller back-end for nonstop availability. Detailed breakdowns of respective vendors' pricing begin on page 6.Page 2The Real Cost of 802.11n for the Enterprise
Introduction reliable. Most enterprise-class vendors offer fairly Trying to Compare Wireless LAN Alternatives sophisticated RF management tools. But some vendors Making accurate cost comparisons among various 802.11n include these features in their base price, while others wireless LAN equipment suppliers is a daunting task. Pricing layer on separate charges for some or all of them.elements from vendor to vendor are frequently inconsistent, . Other WLAN capabilities, such as mesh networking, making the proverbial apples-to-apples comparison almost voice support and centralized management, might also impossible. be priced separately. You might consider such features For instance, some suppliers require WLAN controllers while "must-haves" or "nice-to-haves," depending on your others don't. And some controller-based vendors require all situation. It helps, then, to know upfront whether you are data traf? c to be backhauled to the controller for forwarding paying extra for them or not.while others more ef? ciently handle this function in distributed For its part, mesh networking involves over-the-air data access points (APs). forwarding from AP to AP. Mesh might be a requirement if you In a high-bandwidth 802.11n environment, the centralized have a dif? cult-to-wire environment or if you simply would like to vendors require more controller resources to maintain save on cabling, Ethernet ports, and Power over Ethernet (PoE) equivalent throughput support, which usually results in greater switch ports. capital outlay. Some vendors charge for meshing, while ... [download for more]