Wireless Access

Howdy, folks!

I'm looking to grab an Aruba AP for a homelab situation to play with and learn (currently looking at 305 and 315). When I went to search eBay, I realized there's quite a few variations of each model. I have a few questions about the difference.

1. What is CM? ie the JX945A vs JX945ACM
2. I see that there are IAP and controller-based APs. I was under the assumption that any model (305, 315, etc) was capable of both and would look for a controller first, then default to IAP if no controller was found. Am I wrong? Are the controller-based models not capable of IAP?
3. Is there any hardware/firmware difference in versions that are FIPS/TAA certified vs the non-certified verions? ie JX945A vs JX950A

Also, if there's any other considerations I should know of, please feel free to chime in! Thank you!

1. CM means those devices are for Cloud-Managed infrastructure, or Aruba Central.  If you only want home use, I would avoid this model, because it is designed for users that already have an Aruba Central account.

2. You definitely want an IAP (Instant AP), because those can be used without a separate hardware controller, and converted to controller-based if necessary.  The regular AP CANNOT be converted to work without a controller.  Stick with the IAP variant and you will not go wrong.  If you are in the US, look for IAP-305-US.  If you are outside of the US, I would look for the IAP-305-RW.

3.  FIPS/TAA hardware are manufactured in Either US or Singapore and have tamper-resistant labels on them.

I hope that answers some of your questions.

Maybe consider a AP-505 (802.11ax) instead of the AP-305 (802.11ac), the list price is allmost the same.

Note: All AP-500 series are Unified AP that can be used with our without controller, Unified AP are formerly known as IAP, there are no different models anymore.

Thank you for the replys.

@cjoseph: that did answer my qustions, thanks!

@mkk I looked for a 505, but there were limited second hand ones and they all seemed to be $500+. I was able to get a lightly used IAP-305 off eBay for $135. Though I will probably consider upgrading when I get .11ax devices.

Cheers!

Thats a excellent price for a excellent AP!