MR30H in Adult Living Center

[Precision24]

Hi all,

New to the community and looking for some advice on how some of you would setup your network. We just received (18) - MR30H AP's for an adult living center. The purpose is to install 1 AP in every resident room to correct problematic connectivity issues due to the old structure. Now that every resident will have their own device should we separate them all and have 18 networks so that all devices have their own SSID's and networks? Or, should we just create one network and distribute SSID's (knowing the max is 15 ID's)? 

Being mindful that most of the residents will only use the connection for Magic Jack phones, Smart TV's and occasional Amazon Kindle/Tablet do you think privacy should be a large concern?

Look forward to your thoughts!

Thanks!

[SoCalRacer]

Both of these kind of sound like a nightmare.

I would say benefits to 18 networks is that you have alot more control, but its going to be harder to manage alerts, support, etc.

1 network seems also bad from the support troubleshooting where they are and such

I would say there is a mix between the 2 that would work. A different way to create 2 or more networks Like North or South or Floor 1 and Floor 2 or maybe 100 and 200, 300 rooms.

[Precision24]

Thank you for the response! I see where this can get crazy. I just found out that some of the residents do online shopping too. I'm sure they are not savy enough to obtain other residents personal so maybe a handful of small groups would be best and easy to manage.

[cmr]

Why not just have them on one SSID in NATed mode so they don't see each other's devices?  Do they individually pay for the WiFi or is it part of the package?

[PJ51182]

I agree, that would be the solution I would go for. Using Meraki DHCP (NAT mode) sounds like the ideal setup for this scenario. Would the clients need to access resources on the LAN (such as printers etc)?  That could be the only stumbling block.

Additionally you could use individual usernames and passwords (using a splash screen for example) to get more control/visibility but this would be an additional admin overheard.   

[Precision24]

Thanks! This seemed like the most reasonable method. I set them all up with one SSID in NAT mode. Then under location I entered each room number so that I can easily drill into specific room issues. They don't need access to any LAN devices.

[cmr]

Excellent, glad to be of help 👍 

[Tadpole86]

I would consider using the individual pre-shared key feature. Sooner or later you are likely to run into issues with the current proposed solution of NAT mode DHCP. 

The advantage of Ipsk is that you will have a single SSID with a unique password per tenant. This will give them access to there own bubble of devices. Meaning if someone has a wireless printer, apples TV etc they will be able to access them. At the moment  NAT mode DHCP will not allow this. 

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Encryption_and_Authentication/IPSK_Authentication_Without_RADIUS