An Aruba Instant cluster is the ideal solution here. It creates a self-forming, self-healing wireless network where APs can act as a mesh, extending coverage without new cables. One AP automatically becomes the Virtual Controller, managing the cluster and providing a single, unified network—perfect for solving coverage issues in a cost-effective, simple way for a small business.

This describes the ‘sticky client’ problem, where devices cling to their initial AP. Aruba’s ClientMatch technology actively monitors client connection quality and can proactively steer clients to the best available AP, ensuring optimal performance and balancing load across the network.

The best practice is to disable the lowest, slowest data rates (like 1, 2 Mbps for 802.11b). By allowing only 802.11g and higher data rates (e.g., starting at 12 or 24 Mbps), the legacy devices can still connect, but they won’t force the entire cell to use excessive protection mechanisms, preserving airtime efficiency for modern devices.

A key advantage of a dedicated Mobility Controller is its ability to perform stateful firewall functions, role-based policy enforcement, and deep packet inspection in a centralized manner. This simplifies policy management and provides consistent security for all wireless traffic before it enters the wired network, which is crucial for large, complex environments.

In a dense office environment with many APs and clients, 40 MHz is the recommended default. It provides a good balance of speed and channel availability, reducing co-channel interference. Wider channels (80/160 MHz) are faster but consume more spectrum, increasing the risk of overlap and interference in dense deployments.

A common rule of thumb in site survey and design is that due to higher frequency and poorer penetration through walls, achieving consistent 5 GHz coverage often requires about 1.5 times the number of APs compared to a design focused only on 2.4 GHz coverage. This ensures performance for modern devices that primarily use 5 GHz.

A Captive Portal with Social Login is ideal for this scenario. It allows guests to self-register using their existing social media credentials, providing a layer of authentication without the school managing passwords. It’s user-friendly, secure, and common in educational and hospitality environments.

Aruba Activate is a cloud-based provisioning service. Its core function is to automate the initial setup of Aruba devices. When a device connects to the internet, it contacts Activate, which then tells it where to find its configuration (e.g., download a specific Instant cluster config, join an on-premises controller, or register with Aruba Central), simplifying large-scale deployments.

Quality of Service (QoS) with Application Visibility and Control (AVC) allows you to identify over 2,000 common applications (like video conferencing). Once identified, you can create firewall policies and QoS rules to prioritize that traffic, guaranteeing it minimum bandwidth or giving it a higher forwarding class to ensure performance.

An Aruba Instant cluster is the ideal solution here. It creates a self-forming, self-healing wireless network where APs can act as a mesh, extending coverage without new cables. One AP automatically becomes the Virtual Controller, managing the cluster and providing a single, unified network—perfect for solving coverage issues in a cost-effective, simple way for a small business.0