Is a controller required for roaming?

[hometownfc]

We've been using single stand-alone Aironet AP's at our small branch offices with great reliability and success over the last 3 years.  However, we recently acquired an office with only a few clients (10), but it is an old warehouse so it has a lot of square footage so multiple AP's will be needed to cover the area.

If I go with 6 1600 AP's do I have to use a controller (such as 2500) for clients to be able to automatically roam between the AP's as they walk throughout the warehouse with their laptops, or can I just use the stand-alone AP's instead that I'm accustomed to?

Thanks for the help!

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

You can use autonomous but the most important thing is the overlapping coverage.

[hometownfc]

Excellent and thanks for the response, around 20% overlap is ideal; correct?  That's the figure I was using when I came up with 6 AP required...

Also, are there any advantages to lightweight vs autonomous in regards to roaming, such as quicker handoff or something similar due to the controller?

Thanks again!

[Leo Laohoo]

around 20% overlap is ideal; correct?

That's correct.  20% would be ideal.  That's voice-quality recommendation.  If you get your autonomous wireless set up for voice-quality, then you've got it made.

Also, are there any advantages to lightweight vs autonomous in regards to roaming, such as quicker handoff or something similar due to the controller?

Just make sure you update the firmware of your wireless NIC.  This seems to be the greatest angst among people.

[vlad.mihailov]

Controller will allow clients to roam faster than stand-alone access points, but how critical that speed will be for a laptop roaming in the warehouse is a question. It becomes critical when dealing with time critical applications, such as voice.

[Abhishek Abhishek]

yes, you can go for autonomous but keep in mind the overlapping during design as told earlier. Please mark the post as answered if your query is resolved.