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Wireless Network Planning and Design
LEVER are Europe's leading Wireless experts for wireless network Planning, Design, Installation, Technical Training, Support, Optimisation, Analysis, Diagnosis and Troubleshooting.
Wireless network Planning and Design are the two most crucial phases of any project, and this is particularly true of Wi-Fi network deployments.
Here we present a 3-minute tutorial on WiFi network design.
Please contact us with any questions!
Why do Wi-Fi Networks Fail to Deliver?
Wi-Fi network deployments often fail to deliver Reliability, Capacity and Performance - due to:- Poor Planning
- Poor Wi-Fi RF network Design
- Incompetent RF Site Survey
- Poor Wi-Fi network implementation.
Wi-Fi RF Network Design
If you ask yourself: How well would your switched Gigabit Ethernet network perform if your physical cabling was bad?
- Your answer would probably be that your network wouldn't work. And you wouldn't be surprised either!
So what about Wi-Fi networks?
The physical part of a Wi-Fi installation is the RF Network.
So we should ask ourselves: How do you Design and Certify a Wi-Fi RF network?
We ask this because if you can't design a fit-for-purpose RF Network, then how well should we expect our Wi-Fi deployment to work?
IEEE 802.11n
Wi-Fi network vendors are now pushing IEEE 802.11n as a silver bullet - to ensure excellent WLAN performance and reliability. In truth, 802.11n alone is insufficient.
Automatic RF
Likewise "automatic RF management" on the WLAN controller - AutoRF, ARM, and other algorithms.All too often, this gives the impression that we don't have to worry much about the configuration - or even the design - of the RF network.
But neither 802.11n nor automatic RF management can fix a sub-standard RF network, because a Wi-Fi RF network is the product of:
- The Number of APs deployed.
- The Location of each AP (really, it's the AP's antennas).
- The chosen Antenna types.
- Each Antenna's orientation – azimuth and elevation.
- The Power level of each radio.
- The RF Channel used by each radio.
- The "automatic RF management" schemes in enterprise Wi-Fi products only have control over two of the parameters mentioned above: - Power levels and RF Channel. The rest are determined by the Wi-Fi network installer.
Has Your Wi-Fi Network Really Been Designed?
A Wi-Fi Network Engineer or installer cannot truly have designed the RF network unless they have determined the correct radio power level and RF channel for each AP.If this sounds a little "circular" – a bit "horse after the cart"; or worse still like "closing the stable door after the horse as bolted", then you've probably realised why more than 90% of enterprise Wi-Fi network deployments fail to meet the customer's requirements.
Circular Wi-Fi Cells
The other reasons include the fact that Wi-Fi network design doesn't work the way that many WLAN vendors suggest.For example, take a look at the circular cells painted by the vendors in their diagrams. Are RF cells really circular? No - they aren't!
Four APs into Three Channels Doesn't Go!
Or, ask yourself how do you arrange cells in groups of 4 - at the corners of a square - when you only have three non-overlapping channels in the 2.4GHz band?
What's that Cell Boundary?
And here's another key question: What does the boundary of that circle represent?- Signal Strength (dBm)?
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio (dB)?
- Associated data rate (Mbps)?
- The point where RF stops travelling?
If it isn't labelled, that circle means nothing!
Avoid the Spin
LEVER are acknowledged World Experts in WiFi WLAN Planning, Design and Survey. We have written a series of definitive, vendor-neutral Wi-Fi RF Network Design articles, and indeed a full four-day training course on the subject.LEVER the World's only CWNP GOLD Learning Partner and a World authority on Wi-Fi network Planning, Design, Survey, Installation, Audit, Optimisation, Troubleshooting and Support.
Why LEVER for WiFi WLAN Survey, Planning and Design?
Since 2001, we have developed industry-leading skills and methodologies and our capabilities are unrivalled.We provide a complete range of services to organisations planning to implement wireless and mobile network solutions.
We provide wireless network planning and design, full on-site active and passive RF site survey services, virtual and remote wireless surveys and wireless network modelling using state-of-the-art tools, and much more.
Our services include:
- Wireless network Planning and Design
- Wireless Site Survey
- Wireless network Installation
- Wireless network Security Audit
- Wireless network Analysis and Troubleshooting
Our wireless network planning and design services include:
- Existing Wireless Network Assessment
- Wireless Voice over IP (Wireless IP telephony, Voice over WiFi - VoWiFi)
- Vendor / Product Evaluation and Recommendations
- Wireless System Architecture Definition
- Wireless System configuration definition
- Wireless Technical Specification Development
- Wireless RFP Development and Review