Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Wi-Fi AP Recommendation BAS/Non-critical Use-case

We have some refrigeration equipment with its own offline network that the centralized controller runs a DHCP server.

We intend to install an AP at one of the pieces of equipment (outdoor/rooftop environment) - the AP will ideally get its IP address from that main controller and we will set a SSID/password on it for technicians to use.

Considering something simple like a TP-Link EAP225-Outdoor, have also been browsing MikroTik but I'm not familiar with any of their equipment really. Sub-$100 or so would be nice.

This is a "non-critical" installation.

But there is one feature that would be cool - if by default out of the box the AP was setup to get its IP via DHCP and even if a default SSID it simply broadcasts some SSID to connect to the network it has joined. Like a zero-touch install so in the event of a failure we can just Amazon a new one to the site and they can plug it in and no one needs a PC to set it up etc.

I know if we did some type of managed Wi-Fi this would be simple, but adding some type of SDN controller like Omada or Unifi is a bit more complex than taking a few days to set one up then ship it as a replacement.

Do you have a recommended AP for such a project? And do you know of any that just operate that way out of the box without some managed controller present?

(We are a BAS integrator not a networking company so we have no other big network presence at these sites besides our main BAS network which doesn't connect with this particular network directly. The reefer network is like 4-10 devices at most and this is just a convenience add rather than something more critical)



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