Cisco WAP4410N Wireless-N Access Point - PoE/Advanced Security

After struggling for years with the poor quality, poor performance, poor life, limited configurability of typical cheap consumer WAPs I decided to try something more robust. I'm using this in a large residence surrounded by several other homes also radiating wireless signals. The other WAP in the home is from the FIOS router upstairs. I've decided to let it choose optimum channel since the neighbors around me are constantly changing their channels and I'm happy to let it keep track of all this noise, tho I'd like to keep the FIOS channel different so need to keep track of it.While this box is overkill feature-wise for my application it's a pleasure to setup and monitor. The performance is clearly better (connection speed, signal strength & transmit speed) and I don't have to constantly reboot it as previous products. It runs cool, it's dependable, it's fast, and I'm now N-ready.I haven't needed to call support so I'm not grading that.

Got my Cisco 4410 WAP today and it’s all hooked up. Good stuff.Here was my situation: I have a router from the SP on one side of my house. My office is on the other. By the time I close the door to my office, my devices can’t even see my wireless router on the other side of the house.The Cisco 4410 WAP fixed all that. Works beautifully but only after you understand some things.First, hardwire it into your SP router on one of the cat 5 ports. Within a minute, you’ll see the new wireless network from a device. I think the default name was ciscosp, or something like that.That’s great – you can cruise around on the internet and it’s wonderful.But you want to be able to configure the darn thing, of course. Here’s how:The default IP address for the WAP is 192.168.1.245. But it will go with DHCP (ie dynamic IP address) and if that happens then you won’t be able to find it.Here’s what I had to do: hardwire my MBP to the WAP with an ethernet cable. Now I had it’s attention. I went to 192.168.1.245 and could configure.UN/PW is admin/admin.1) First move: On the Setup/Basic Setup screen: change the Network Setup from DHCP to Static IP Address. And now you change the Local IP Address to 192.168.1.245. Now you know how to find it and it won’t jump around due to DHCP.Set the subnet mast to 255.255.255.0 and “point it at” your SP router. Ie, set the default gateway to 192.168.1.1 (that’s usually the address of your SP router).HIT SAVEChange to the right time zone while you’re in the Setup Section.2) Go to the wireless section.Wireless/Basic Settings: IMPORTANT:In the wireless section, it’s important to do 2 things.First, change the Wireless Channel from the default to option 11 – 2.462GHz. This will reduce interference.Next, Enter the SSID. USE THE SAME NAME AS YOUR SP ROUTER.So if your WAN comes up on your devices as JonesHouse, then use JonesHouse as your SSID here. You may be tempted to use JonesHouse2. But don’t. Use JonesHouse – the idea is you want your devices to roam from the WAP to your SP Router seamlessly as you walk around the house. So use the same SSID. That's the whole point.HIT SAVEWireless/Security:Make sure you have your new SSID at the top, which will only happen if you saved it in the prior step.Now you probably want SPA-Personal here for the security mode.Enter TKIP as the WPA AlgorithmEnter your pre-shared Key – use the same one you use on your SP router!3) AdministrationAdministration/Management – here’s where you change your UN and PW from admin/admin to something else.Next: under Web Access, you want to ‘Enable’ Wireless Web Access so that you can hit this puppy from your wireless devices as opposed to always having to hardwire into your SP modem.REPEAT – this is why it’s important to get off the admin/admin UN/PW.SAVEYou should be good to go.NOTE: I actually have a specialized VPN router from work in my office that’s tied to my cat 5 cable drop in my office. So I hook up to that VPN router and it takes me back to a VPN server in RTP from TPA.So – I bought a $12 ethernet switch from the local staples (D-Link something or other). Hooked the ethernet switch to my cat 5 drop. Then hooked the 4410 WAP to one port and the VPN router to the other.It all works beautifully! I can now hit my SP Router network in full strength from my office!And I can use my vpn router.Hope you find this helpful.

I bought 2 of these to replace old Linksys WAPs in my home network hoping to take advantage of the higher speeds provided by my ISP and increase the coverage throughout my home. The coverage is a little better than I had with my ancient Linksys WAPs, but not at the 5GHz band. Within about 20 feet, I can maintain a stable connection at 5Ghz and see about 25% improvement in upload speed and about 50% improvement in download speed. Outside that distance, I often get dropped connections and must manually switch over to the 2.5 GHz band. At 2.5GHz I get better coverage than I had with my old WAPs, but not any noticeable improvement in upload/download performance. Playing with the antennae doesn't seem to make much difference.The ease of configuration (Full disclosure -- I had some professional help) and the improved security options pushed me from a 3 star grade to 4 stars.

I had been wanting something to replace my aging but still working Linksys WAP54G Wireless G Access Point for some time. I avoided the WAP4400n because of negative reviews and many problems experienced by users. So when Cisco finally came out with a newer model the WAP4410n, I figured they must have fixed the problems in the WAP4400n. They couldn't possibly release a new model with the same problems as the old one right? Wrong! I purchased two of these from Amazon. The first one arrived and worked perfectly until I decided to upgrade the firmware to the latest version. After that, no connection, no nothing. It just died. A second unit had the same results, another brick. Now, I have upgraded the firmware in my old access point and router on several occasions and never had a problem. It is not rocket science but you must do it correctly or a brick is what you will get. I am a network administrator by profession. I thought I had done everything right but I was beginning to second guess myself. A conversation and some tests by Cisco Tech Support determined that both units were defective and I should return them. Amazon graciously took them back and refunded my money.Looking for an alternative, I did some research and found the TRENDnet TEW-670AP Dual Band Wireless N Access Point. After buying nothing but Linksys products for years, I was reluctant to trust an unknown brand like TRENDnet but after my experience with Cisco, I had nothing to lose. I decided to try TRENDnet and purchased the TEW-670AP. The unit has great specs, 5GHz that the Cisco unit couldn't match and great performance, often connecting at 300Mbps. It also costs less than the Cisco unit. I couldn't be happier. I highly recommend the TRENDnet TEW-670AP. Avoid the Cisco WAP4410n like the plague!