Thanks, Rob! This is extremely valuable feedback for me.

Yeah, I knew I'd need a router, but I wanted to get a point of comparison. It sounds like I shouldn't have too much trouble setting this up at my knowledge level.

Unfortunately, those dual-band APs are super expensive (well, compared to their other APs). The regular APs seem to go for around $82, the "long range" APs are ~$95, and I haven't seen the dual-band APs for less than around $220. I saw that stuff about using the 5GHz range for the backbone, and that's pretty cool. I'm not sure how it works on the 2.4GHz-only APs, though.

Okay, this rocks. It sounds like this is a pretty great system. I definitely plan to pick up a few APs for my own home at some point.


From what I've been seeing, it sounds like the controller isn't, strictly speaking, necessary to the everyday operations of the APs. From what I've been reading. The controller is necessary for setting the network up (of course), and the only reason it needs to be running constantly is if you're running a guest network. I guess you need it in your situation, and I'd need one in my home to provide guest access. I wonder, though. The FAQ says the controller is necessary for a guest portal. By portal, do they mean like the type of setup you're talking about for that farmer's market? Or do they mean just a regular old guest network (SSID, client isolation)? I guess I'll find out sometime if my client accepts my proposal and/or I set up a network in my own house.