I am normally shipped the AP by a Project management company and they remote into the unit for configuration. In this case, a client is asking me for a quote for a Wifi installation. I have installed plenty of commercial Wifi units, "Cisco Aeronet, Aruba and so on but want one that has very good customer support a decent price and warranty.
What WIFI Access points do you technicans buy and configure?
I have also used a few wifi field streagth apps but like to know what you use? One of the best apps I have read about is Ekhau Heat map software. However, I do not have the special wifi card or there card to do sight surveys.
I prefer Cisco.
As to field strength software the Free version of Ekhau Heatmapper is great for seeing how you coverage is and gives you an overview of each AP, but it doesn't tell you much or anything about channels being using and such.
Metegeeks InSSIDer is a great free product that lets you see almost everything you need on signal strength and channel assignments. The InSSIDer Office version with Wi-Spy is even better
Depends on the budget but I usually lean towards Ubiquiti unless it's only one or two devices, otherwise the controller software makes life to easy to get out the console cable for Ci$co.
One-offs I typically use an EnGenius EAP350.
We are using a Cisco 4400 controller at work with APs throughout the shop and office.
I've installed Ubiquiti APs for customers, they are pretty nice.
At home I have a Meraki AP which is now owned by Cisco, it's also cloud managed.
I install Ayrstone open mesh. Any Ayrstone unit can be a gateway AP or signal repeater. 2 miles line of sight and can be leapfrogged for greater distance. Easy to configure, easy remote access. I use Google Wifi Analyzer and Open Lines cell/wifi analyzer both available from the Google apps store.
I've stopped using anything but Ubiquiti since v3 of the controller is now available. With a $10 instance at Digital Ocean running the controller, I can have one, ten, or a thousand APs provisioned and ready to go in just minutes with L3 provisioning.
I stay away from anything "mesh" simply due to the effect in performance huge performance hit whenever devices are connecting to one another rather than with a cable.
A NanoStation M2 and M5 make great spectrum analyzers for less than $100 each to let you see real-time what is on each band since not every source of interference will come from someone else's SSID.