( 5 reviews )
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Posted: Jun 18 2009
If you're buying this for use at home and you're not a tech-savvy Cisco/Network geek, save your money and stick with Linksys access points... or at least be prepared to have a network geek swing by to configure it. That said, if you're tech-savvy or using this in a business environment with a good IT person on hand, these AP's are absolutely perfect in terms of functionality and form-factor. Configuring them is a bit intimidating at first, because there are TONS of options and features in the web interface menus, and you do have to do some hunting, because it's not all organized very well. However, rest assured that everything you'll ever want to do with these AP's (including private/guest VLAN options) can most certainly be done. As for the open WEP claim in the one review, I'll add my assurance that the claim is false. It does support WEP, but WEP is such a horrible encryption standard, and you should really be using WPA or WPA2.
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Posted: Jan 12 2009
I recommend this product. The 1 star review is incorrect. This device absolutely does support OPEN WEP (everything from open public network, MAC filtering, to full blown RADIUS servers), plus a host of other security types. In fact, this is an extremely feature rich wireless device for what the cost is. Note, if you want to support wireless roaming and mobility (jumping from one AP to another without re-authenticating) you will want to read up on WDS: [...] Also, these devices are not for the faint of heart. Ideally, you need to get familiar with Cisco IOS CLI before taking on too much, but I will say the GUI is pretty straight forward and even for a newbie a basic WPA single cell network could be setup in minutes :-)
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Posted: Jul 6 2008
This review is primarily for home owners who are considering this device. The Cisco Aironet 113x WAPs are solid, professional devices. The 113x's are very configurable, and provide an exceptional feature set, reliability and distance -- even in congested areas. BUT: they require a very tech savvy consumer to configure them properly. Tech Notes: - This devices does not include a DHCP server -- the default config uses the DHCP server on your wired LAN -- there is NO default IP address. - If default configuration does not work, you will need to use the console interface -- you'll need a serial connection and understanding of telnet. - Securing the device requires an understanding of the difference between WEP and WPA and use of hex keys (no ASCII) If any of the above is confusing or scary, you might consider one of the Linksys WAPs (Linksys was recently purchased by Cisco). They tend to be more sensitive to traffic congestion and have lower range, but they are much easier to configure.
