Balance 20 router with 3 AP One Access points

I need to use the Balance 20 router with 3 AP One Access points for a customer who has a two story 4000sft house - two in the first floor and the 3’rd in the second floor.
I read both user’s manual but couldn’t find any information how to configure multiple APs
I assume I need to specify the same SSID. Do I choose 3 none overlapping channels (1, 6, and 11) or I set them to Auto?
What else I need to know?

I read that without additional license only two AP One will be managed. Can the third one stays un-mannaged and still work? What’s the impact on the systems.
Any other basic settings I need to know about?

For this application I can connect the 3 APs to the Balance and the 4’th connection will go to the switch, If I had an additional AP can I connect it to the switch? Are there any special requirments for the switch?

Thank you,

Hi Moshe,

Non-overlapping channels will be ideal especially when we look to deploy multiple APs for the same area. Setting Auto for channel selection will have AP One automatically selecting the best channel to use for your environment.

Peplink WLAN Controller will allow you to configure and manage all AP One in one single intuitive and user-friendly Peplink web admin page and is only available for Balance model 380 or above. We do have plan to extend it to Balance 20/30 as well. Please feel free to check back once in a while - we will have this amazing feature on Balance 20/30 in a matter of time.

So what we want to do now is to, without Peplink WLAN Controller for the time being, configure and mange your three AP One’s individually for your customer’s home use. And yes we can have a switch in-between one of the Peplink LAN port and the 4th AP One - there is no special requirement for the switch.

Thanks,
Kurt

Alternatively, you can use incontrol.pepwave.com to control all your AP One.

I am running 5.4.0beta10 build 1267 on a B20 and noticed the incontrol radio button. However, when recently setting up an AP1 ( at another site ) I saw only an announcement that I’ll be able to add other devices to incontrol “soon.” Any comment on what “soon” is ?

Hi Robert,

By other devices are we referring to a non-Pepwave device? Because InControl - our cloud management solution is only available for Pepwave equipments.

Thanks,
Kurt

By other I mean the B20.


So, the question is when can I add the B20 to the incontrol portal ?

Understand. But wouldn’t it be better to manage the Balance 20 directly if we have only one unit? I mean we can always connect to the Balance web admin page at its WAN IP anywhere with Internet to monitor and configure it directly instead of using InControl which is better for managing a large number of deployment.

Thanks,
Kurt

Kurt, sure it is. I am just asking when. I think if you have a single AP1, it does not really need incontrol either. However, if I can see stats on a B20 and AP1 in the same portal… that might be useful.

If you look at the screen shot I posted of a B20 it shows a new feature and my question is when do you think I’ll be able to add the B20 to incontrol ? A best guess ?

Thanks for the elaboration Robert. I do not have full details on hand but being a firmware 5.4 features this should be available once firmware 5.4 become a production release likely at Q1 2012 - but of course it will depend on what feature we are looking for initially and that would probably depend on the feedback from beta firmware 5.4.

Thanks,
Kurt