@mike-davis said in How do ISPs get business?:
In some areas a company will run fiber for a circuit so large it makes sense to rent space on a utility pole to do it. Then they send their sales guys out to pound the pavement along that route to bring on more clients to make it profitable. If their build out costs are high, they aren't going to waste time knocking on your door.
Sorry, so who's renting the space on the utility pole?
@jaredbusch said in How do ISPs get business?:
@markferron said in How do ISPs get business?:
So random question I've been thinking about today...
How does a new ISP compete in a crowded city? Where I'm from, you'll almost always see one DSL company, and usually one cable company competing in the same area, but no more. From what I've been told, the local government usually dictates which ISPs can operate in a certain area because of the physical limitations of installing their hardware. Is that true? If it is, how does another potential ISP "move in" on area already provided for?Generally by purchasing bulk access form the incumbent carrier.
When DSL was first booming, SBC (come AT&T) was required to sell to a CLEC at fixed rates so the CLEC could offer DSL.
It was all AT&T plant and gear, but the consumer never knew that unless shit hit the fan.
WOW does run their own last mile, but I have no idea if they own the entire thing.
So basically, it's impossible to get rid of crappy DSL companies by complaining to your local officials?
So random question I've been thinking about today...
How does a new ISP compete in a crowded city? Where I'm from, you'll almost always see one DSL company, and usually one cable company competing in the same area, but no more. From what I've been told, the local government usually dictates which ISPs can operate in a certain area because of the physical limitations of installing their hardware. Is that true? If it is, how does another potential ISP "move in" on area already provided for?
@dafyre said in Suggestions for new APs and Firewall:
This is for a school, not an SMB. With out some form of traffic shaping somewhere, their bandwidth would be overrun with torrents.
@Markferron can correct me if I'm wrong, but right now, I think the Meraki APs are where the bandwidth shaping is being done now.
Yup I have rules on the APs and the MX400. They should all be the same as far as bandwidth limits, just in case.
@dashrender said in Suggestions for new APs and Firewall:
@markferron said in Suggestions for new APs and Firewall:
@coliver said in Suggestions for new APs and Firewall:
Not sure if you will need it but I think the Unifi AP AC-HD is the newest version. Slightly more expensive but has ~double the bandwidth available per AP then the AC-Pro does.
I think we'd be okay with just the Pro version.
This is where business understanding really comes in. Perhaps you need the Pro version. But considering the options, possibly saving $80 per AP by using Lites might be acceptable for your situation.
i.e. Don't buy Pro just because it's called Pro.
But....pro?
@dashrender Meraki doesn't have that and it's like 3x as much just for hardware
@dashrender said in Suggestions for new APs and Firewall:
@coliver said in Suggestions for new APs and Firewall:
Not sure if you will need it but I think the Unifi AP AC-HD is the newest version. Slightly more expensive but has ~double the bandwidth available per AP then the AC-Pro does.
Good point - I was actually going to mention the possibility of going the other way - to the Unifi AC Lite. It's less overall bandwidth at the AP (800 Mb vs 1.2 Gb) but still above your internet connection.
The AC-HDs are good for places that have high density of devices, say a lunch room.
Good idea.
@coliver said in Suggestions for new APs and Firewall:
Not sure if you will need it but I think the Unifi AP AC-HD is the newest version. Slightly more expensive but has ~double the bandwidth available per AP then the AC-Pro does.
I think we'd be okay with just the Pro version. But I have to ask, anyone know why there are two ports?
@coliver said in Suggestions for new APs and Firewall:
Do you have any of the additional Meraki features enabled that are requirements?
I don't believe so. I'm pretty sure we weren't using it to it fullest potential anyways.
Hello!
So currently we have around 150 Meraki MR32 and a few MR66 APs on our campus. Initially they were nice to have because they were incredibly simple to setup and install on our network. But after looking at the costs of licensing them for three years (around $200 for 3 years) I can't justify them. I'm not really sure how the school even afforded them to start off with...anyways. The licences expire next November and I was looking at suggesting another product to the boss man. I was looking at UniFi AP-AC-Pro and at $140 each (with no licences needed, right?) it seems like an no brainer. What do you guys think? Is there anything else we would need to purchase besides the APs?
Also, the on the same date our firewall (Meraki MX400) will expire as well. As mentioned previously, its really nice because it was nice to maintain from a person with my little experience. But at $11,000 for a 3 year license?? I don't know much about enterprise level prices, but that feels much. Anyone have suggestions for a firewall that would be easy to maintain for a newby like me?
Just some background data the school has the potential for 1GB uplink, but we only pay for 500mb with about 700-1000 devices per day. We have a client VPN with the Meraki, but I don't think that it's an issue with any enterprise firewall.
@dafyre Yup you're right, we do have a few open modules with nothing in them. Yeah $1600 for something like this amazon.
You think if I donate something like that to the college I can get it engraved? "Graciously donated by Mark Ferron" -You're welcome.
@xByteSean How would you like for me to be eternally grateful?
Just talked to HPE support, unfortunately we don't have a module that supports 10Gb. If only we had 1600 lying around :(.
But at least our chassis supports it!
Really, that's awesome?? I thought that SPF+ was 10Gb though?
Hey guys!
They recently finished a building on campus which has single mode fiber running to it. This will be the first building to have single mode running to it, as all the buildings on campus have multimode fiber. That being said, I've never even dealt fiber at all before so, for the past few days I've been reading up on everything I could get my hands on. I think I have a general idea of the equipment I need to finish this project, but if you guys wouldn't mind looking over this I would appreciate this!
Single mode fiber is running from building A to building B (newly constructed). In building A we have an HP J8706A 24p SFP zl Module in a 5412zl chassis. In building B they are purchasing a Meraki MS250-48 (Meraki link). I was going to see if we could get 10G uplink between the buildings but it looks like the HP module only supports up to 1Gb :(. So instead I was going to order some 1GbE SFP LX Fiber Transceivers (ebay link). Which actually brings up a question, do you have to have specific brand transceivers for specific switches? I can just use these HP transcievers on the Meraki, right?
Also, the company who ran the fiber also went ahead and installed the fiber on the patch panel (I want to say they ran 3 pairs) what kind of cable do I need to connect the patch to the transceiver? Some sort of 1m singlemode fiber :/?
Apologies on the long post. Just want to make sure people aren't waiting on me to get everything finished.
Thanks!
M
@Mike-Davis Thanks Mike! I talked to Meraki support yesterday and that's exactly what the tech told me. I was just surprised that it was the basically the only solution.