Aruba Remote Access Point For Work From Home Enterprise WiFi
Last updated on July 22nd, 2021
Aruba remote access point models that are cost effective and designed specially for remote working purpose like work from home, and also for hospitality industry as room AP, for SOHO customers, multi dwelling units etc will be reviewed in this article.
In this Article:
About Aruba Networks
Aruba networks is one of the world’s top Enterprise WLAN solutions companies. As per IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Wireless LAN tracker 1Q21, Aruba Networks is the second largest player in the world in the Enterprise WLAN market, in terms of revenues. The company had a revenue share of 14.8% of the market, which is led by Cisco Systems at 44.4%.
Aruba Networks belongs to Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The company was acquired by HP in 2015 for about $3B USD in an all cash deal.
Aruba Networks has launched a range of solutions in the latest WiFi 6 standard. These include indoor Enterprise WiFi access point models starting from entry level 2×2 radios to high performance ultra user density solutions. They have also launched rugged WiFi 6 outdoor access point models. The company had also recently launched the world’s first WiFi 6E Enterprise WiFi access point.
These WiFi 6 launches are on top of their existing line of 802.11ac WiFi 5 access points that are sought after by Enterprise customers in many countries for their features and quality.
Pandemic accelerates Work-From-Home
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about a lot of changes in the habits of people and Enterprises globally. The work-from-home culture that had begun many years back in select organizations was given a big shot in the arm by the virus. Due to travel restrictions and lock-downs, employees are unable to commute or travel to their workplaces like they did before the contagious disease spread.
Started as a temporary solution
Social restrictions by the governments all around the world initially led to many corporations asking their employees to work from home as a temporary measure. But as the pandemic continued across the globe in multiple waves, uncertainty creeped in about the timelines for return to normalcy. No clear scientific solution for sustained prevention and cure of the virus and its variants has been found as of this July 2021. A full workforce operating from a common office is looking impossible for many more months into the future in many countries.
This is leading to many Enterprises asking their employees to work from home(WFH) as a medium to long term solution and they are investing in various WFH facilities. This is also keeping in mind of a possible hybrid working model that could emerge when the pandemic starts easing definitively.
Cost savings realized through Work-From-Home
As an unintended benefit, many organizations have realized the possibility of saving a lot of cash by moving into smaller premises and having only critical team members at the office. Other employees may check-in only when required or on a periodic basis but otherwise work from home long-term.
As this scenario is playing out, many Enterprises are looking to invest in secure WiFi access for WFH employees. This is to extend Enterprise services to home based workers and also to safeguard sensitive office data from passing through less secure retail WiFi routers. But extension of Enterprise network to home needs some specific qualities in the Enterprise WiFi access point as noted below.
>Related Post< Budget Cisco Access Point Models For Work From Home & Hotel Rooms
Desired qualities of a remote access point
Some of the desired qualities of a remote access point would be as follows.
Desktop Form Factor
The remote access point should be designed to be placed on a desktop or to easily mount on a wall. This is important because remote workers at home should not be expected to ceiling mount the access point as it will be an added inconvenience to them. Any employee should be able to easily unbox and place the access point at a convenient place over their desks or on nearby shelves or any such reachable flat surface.
Remote access point should be easy to install at home
An employee with no knowledge of IT hardware should be able to connect to his existing Internet connection and if needed do some basic typing and clicking on their computer to finish the installation. This is critical because people from all departments in various age groups with different comfort levels in technology will be working from home. And the IT team cannot get onto calls with potentially hundreds of employees for installing their access points. Any employee should be able to follow a simple email guide to connect the remote access point with their Enterprise network.
Security
Authentication of employees should be quick, simple and seamless. Secure VPN tunnel should be easily established from a corporate wireless controller to the access point. AP control and data traffic will flow between the controller and remote access point through this IPSec tunnel. This will help the employee to use all the Enterprise services including VoIP, just like an user sitting in the office. Internet bound traffic can be directed to the local ISP of the user so that VPN throughputs can be maintained.
Any other integrated IP traffic monitoring and filtering solutions like firewalls and intrusion prevention solutions would help to further secure the data.
Easy Monitoring
The enterprise should be able to easily monitor and control all the remote access point installations through a common dashboard. This will give complete visibility of the deployment to the IT team. It will also help in quick troubleshooting and escalation handling.
Wired Ports
There should be enough ports in the access point to connect other related office devices like an IP phone if needed. The employees may also be allowed to connect any personal devices as per IT policies.
The remote access point should be cost effective
A large organization could be spending on hundreds or thousands of access points globally. Also the risk of loss and theft is also relatively more when compared to on-premise devices. And yes, there is always an outside chance of a breakthrough scientific invention that can quickly bring the pandemic to an end. This could make WFH investments obsolete sooner than expected, at least in some geographies. For these practical reasons, the access point cannot be exorbitantly priced, increasing the risk of poor returns on investment (ROI).
Entry-level radios
For a single user, a 2×2 radio AP will be good enough as most laptops, tablets and mobiles come fitted with 1×1 or 2×2 WiFi radios. And SU-MIMO feature should be enough. MU-MIMO would be an overkill for home enterprise users but will be handy if more devices are connected by power users.
Easy Power-up
The enterprise user should be able to easily power the remote access point using home electric sockets. Hence there should be AC or DC power-up options available in the access point as PoE powering cannot be expected in homes.
Aruba Remote Access Point Comparison
General features of Aruba remote access point models
Aruba Networks, as of this July 2021, has four series of remote access point models: 203R, 203H, 303H, 500H. Each of these models has been specifically designed for a room type of usage scenario. Hence these access points can very well be used in hospitality Industry as a room AP or in small remote branch offices.
All of these Aruba remote access point models can either be placed on a desk with a stand or easily mounted to a wall. They come with AC or DC plug options for simplified powering through home electric sockets. They can also be powered through PoE injectors or PoE switches. Being entry level access points, they also don’t consume a lot of electricity for their normal operations.
Aruba Remote Access Point Models
| AP-203R/RP | AP-203H | AP-303H | AP-503H | AP-505H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WiFi Standard | WiFi 5 | WiFi 5 | WiFi 5 | WiFi 6 | WiFi 6 |
| Mounting | Desktop/Wall | Desktop/Wall | Desktop/Wall | Desktop/Wall | Desktop/Wall |
| Client Radios | 5 GHz: 1x1:1/2x2:2 2.4GHz:1x1:1/2x2:2 | 5 GHz: 1x1:1/2x2:2 2.4GHz:1x1:1/2x2:2 | 5 GHz: 2x2:2 2.4GHz:2x2:2 | 5 GHz: 2x2:2 2.4GHz:2x2:2 | 5 GHz: 2x2:2 2.4GHz:2x2:2 |
| Dual 5G | No | No | No | No | No |
| IoT Radio | 1xBLE | No | 1xBLE | 1x BLE+Zigbee | 1x BLE+Zigbee |
| RF Analytics Radio | No | No | No | No | No |
| Notable Features | SU-MIMO/Flexible Radios for 2SS 2.4/5 GHz OR Dual Band 1SS | SU-MIMO/Flexible Radios for 2SS 2.4/5 GHz OR Dual Band 1SS | MU-MIMO/ ACC/IPM/ARM*/ Spectrum Analysis | MU-MIMO/ OFDMA/ACC* | MU-MIMO/ OFDMA/ACC/ AIC* |
| Antennas | 2xInternal Dual Band Omni | 2xInternal Dual Band- Moderately directional | 2xInternal Dual Band- Moderately directional | 2xInternal Dual Band- Semi- directional / 1x Internal 2.4 GHz IoT Antenna | 2xInternal Dual Band- Semi- directional / 1x Internal 2.4 GHz IoT Antenna |
| 2.4 GHz Ant.Gain | 0.7 dBi | 4.9 dBi | 4.3 dBi | 2.5 dBi & 2.5 dBi(IoT) | 5.2 dBi & 1.2 dBi(IoT) |
| 5 GHz Ant.Gain | 1 dBi | 6 dBi | 6.2 dBi | 5.6 dBi | 5.4 dBi |
| 2.4 GHz Max Data Rate in Mbps | 400(2SSVHT40) 200(1SSVHT40) | 400(2SSVHT40) 200(1SSVHT40) | 300(2SSHT40) | 287(2SSHE20) | 287(2SSHE20) |
| 5 GHz Max Data Rate in Mbps | 867(2SSVHT80) 433(1SSVHT80) | 867(2SSVHT80) 433(1SSVHT80) | 867(2SSVHT80) | 1200(2SSHE80) | 1200(2SSHE80) |
| Security Features | Integrated WIPS/ IP reputation service | Integrated WIPS/ IP reputation service | Integrated WIPS/ IP reputation service | WPA3/PEF | WPA3/PEF |
| Ethernet Ports | 203R/RP: 3xGE (203RP: 1xPSE-PoE(af) out) | 2xGE | 4xGE(1 PSE af) | 3xGE | 1x2.5GE Uplink. 4xGE (2xPSE-PoE(af)@E1&E2 OR 1xPSE-PoE+(at)@E1 |
| Other Ports | 1xUSB 2.0 1xAC (90-265V) 1xSerial console | 1xPassThru 1xBLE Port 1xSerial Console | 1xPassThru 1xUSB 2.0 1xDC 1xSerial Console | 1xDC 1xSerial | 1xDC 1xUSB 2.0 1xSerial |
| Power Input | 203R/RP : 802.3af- functional. 203RP : 802.3at for PSE-PoE out (USB disabled). | 802.3af: fully functional. | 802.3af- No PSE out AND No USB. 802.3at- No PSE OR No USB. | 802.3af- No USB. 802.3at- Fully functional. | 802.3af-No PSE out AND No USB. 802.3at : 1xPSE-PoE(af)@E1 AND No USB. 802.3bt-fully functional. |
| AP Management | Instant or Controller | Instant or Controller | Instant or Controller | Instant or Controller | Instant or Controller |
| Operational Temperature | 32-104°F | 32-104°F | 32-104°F | 32-104°F | 32-104°F |
| Operational Humidity | 5-93% Non condensing | 5-93% Non condensing | 5-93% Non condensing | 5-93% Non condensing | 5-93% Non condensing |
| Manufacturer Quote | Aruba 203R Remote AP delivers secure and fast 802.11ac wireless and wired network access | This cost-effective 802.11ac access point with single or dual radio mode delivers high performance Wi-Fi networks for hospitality and branch offices | best-in class Wi-Fi connectivity for hospitality and branch offices, enabling an always-on user experience with low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) | High performance and cost-effective Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) for hospitality, branch, and teleworker deployments | High performance and cost-effective Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) for hospitality, branch, and teleworker deployments |
*ACC – Advanced cellular coexistence ; ARM- Adaptive Radio Management; GE – 10/100/1000BASE-T ;
IPM – Intelligent Power Monitoring ; ASC-Aruba Secure Core ; WIP-Wireless Intrusion Protection ;
PEF-Policy Enforcement Firewall ; AIC-Advanced IoT Coexistence
Note: All Product/Company/Standards/Bodies names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective owners. Product related images may have been sourced from vendor websites or other public sources for descriptive purposes. Usage of them in the articles does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by vendors.The product features mentioned in this article are not exhaustive or final. For a full list of current capabilities, kindly contact the vendor or its local representative in your region.
