Jun 30 2009 1:19PM GMT
Posted by: Raj Perumal
wireless,
mobility,
Cisco,
HP,
wireless site survey,
access points,
wireless controllers
Hello again! Here’s some more information for you techs delving into the world of wireless. Wireless site surveys! One of the things I find often overlooked when implementing a wireless strategy, is the lack of one! Even when people listen to me about putting in the proper access points and controllers, sometimes they just don’t think about placement.
Now I don’t understand why on earth you wouldn’t do a wireless site survey. A proper survey can save you tons of headaches for your users and for yourself, as well as save you on countless hours of troubleshooting. Access points should not be installed into an organization with no regard to placement, that’s just a dumb idea. You’ll more than likely end up by way too many access points to deal with a given situation and end up wasting your money.
Instead, you should hire a wireless certified individual or company and have them come in and run a wireless site survey. They will come in and scan the surrounding area that you need to have wireless coverage in and they will present you with a nice report that shows you exactly how many access points you need, and where to place them for maximum coverage. Then from this report, you will have a good idea of which wireless controllers and access points you’ll need to buy.
Remember, don’t go into wireless blindly, take your time, do the proper legwork and install a solution that will make your users happy and make you look great!
-RP
Jun 30 2009 1:08PM GMT
Posted by: Raj Perumal
Cisco,
HP,
Colubris,
wireless,
wireless controller,
access points,
mobility
Hello again folks, once again I wanted to talk a little bit about wireless connectivity. More and more, people are finding that they are requiring wireless access in their organization. Unfortunately a good majority of them are going about it the wrong way.
What do I mean by this? Well let’s take a small business for example, one with just a few people and a very small sized office. If they need wireless access all they need to do is go to their nearest electronics retailer and buy a small Linksys or D-Link wireless router and hook it up and they’re good to go. Simple, effective, cheap, not so bad at all.
But now take the slightly larger business, with many people and a larger office than a single wireless router or access point can serve. I’ve seen way too many people try and setup wireless by buying multiple home based wireless routers and spreading them across their premises with no rhyme or reason to try and get the best coverage. Also the larger the building(s), the more management the administrator ends up having by having to go and configure each access point individually.
Never fear, there is a better way. Our friends at Cisco and HP(technology recently acquired from Colubris) both have competing solutions that will serve your needs. The idea is to use a Wireless Controller device which you configure which then in turn controls your access points by use of LWAPP(Lightweight Access Point Protocol). LWAPP allows you to control and configure multiple access points from a centrally accessed wireless controller. The controller pushes out it’s configuration to all of these access points making administration quite easy.
-RP
