What you should know when planning a Wi-Fi network
Although many conservative companies still prefer to stick to more traditional wired solutions when building local area networks, this approach is becoming obsolete every day. Freedom and convenience are the prerogative of wireless networks. We managed to convince our bosses of this, and it gave the go-ahead to install an integrated Wi-Fi solution. We assumed that, probably, this would not be anything complicated, and decided to implement everything on our own. I will not say what happened unfortunately, but it would be much better if we knew in advance about some of the "underwater" stones that may occur during the work. I will share some things that I had to face on personal experience.
Our company has almost all the computers - "Macs", so when planning the network we used the NetSpot program (netspotapp.com), so all the screenshots will be from it. If you are using Windows, you can also find quite clear and functional solutions.
The laying of the wireless network begins with the fact that you “get” the drawings of the building, which are then loaded into the program - so that you can visually see where, what and how it works.
However, who said that the drawings that you provide, will certainly be relevant? In my case, it turned out that a wall was demolished on our floor that did not bear the load, and a different one was installed instead. But this is only the cause of minor discomfort, and there are more critical situations, for example, when a converted wall is covered with unusual material, such as sheet metal, to meet some specific requirements, for example, for safety, and then “covered” with plaster. Is it any wonder that in this case the signal will start to drop significantly.
Every material that makes up your room should be counted. Otherwise, completely unacceptable incidents can occur, to which absolutely small details seem to lead. For example, in our case, some access points were installed in the ceiling. From an aesthetic point of view, this is an elegant solution, but it just turned out that in some places the signal began to fade too much.
As it turned out, we did not take into account that, in addition to access points, metal pipes of the emergency fire extinguishing system are located in the ceiling. They were the cause of the problem. I had to place the access point below the ceiling. But this is just one of the possible nuances that can impede the flawless operation of your network.
Interference is another thing that can interfere with the correct functioning of the Wi-Fi network. And, it seems, everyone remembers about her, but they just forget that her sources may be more than it seems at first glance. For example, we did not take into account the security system of our office center, which operated at a frequency that was very unsuitable for us. Another aspect that is often forgotten is that it is necessary to think in three dimensions. After all, given the interference on your floor, do not forget that it is often not the only one - the “threat” can come from any direction.
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Do not rely on the "maximum"
Remember that no matter how well you think everything over, no matter how good your equipment is, everything will never work perfectly. The maximum data transfer rate will not be provided at all sites.
Yes, and install access points immediately at the maximum transmitting power is also not worth it - sometimes 70% is enough. If you have problems with coverage, you can always increase this power. But, having lowered it previously, you will be reinsured from a superfluous interference. We did not take this into account, as a result of the interference between nearby access points immediately manifested.
Of course, this is only a small part of the nuances that play a significant role when installing a Wi-Fi network. You will deal with this topic - do not pass by specialized utilities that allow you to save time very seriously, get a beautiful printout and, most importantly, make it possible not to guess, but to know!
Our company has almost all the computers - "Macs", so when planning the network we used the NetSpot program (netspotapp.com), so all the screenshots will be from it. If you are using Windows, you can also find quite clear and functional solutions.
Do not trust the drawings
The laying of the wireless network begins with the fact that you “get” the drawings of the building, which are then loaded into the program - so that you can visually see where, what and how it works.
However, who said that the drawings that you provide, will certainly be relevant? In my case, it turned out that a wall was demolished on our floor that did not bear the load, and a different one was installed instead. But this is only the cause of minor discomfort, and there are more critical situations, for example, when a converted wall is covered with unusual material, such as sheet metal, to meet some specific requirements, for example, for safety, and then “covered” with plaster. Is it any wonder that in this case the signal will start to drop significantly.
Consider the materials
Every material that makes up your room should be counted. Otherwise, completely unacceptable incidents can occur, to which absolutely small details seem to lead. For example, in our case, some access points were installed in the ceiling. From an aesthetic point of view, this is an elegant solution, but it just turned out that in some places the signal began to fade too much.
As it turned out, we did not take into account that, in addition to access points, metal pipes of the emergency fire extinguishing system are located in the ceiling. They were the cause of the problem. I had to place the access point below the ceiling. But this is just one of the possible nuances that can impede the flawless operation of your network.
Consider the interference
Interference is another thing that can interfere with the correct functioning of the Wi-Fi network. And, it seems, everyone remembers about her, but they just forget that her sources may be more than it seems at first glance. For example, we did not take into account the security system of our office center, which operated at a frequency that was very unsuitable for us. Another aspect that is often forgotten is that it is necessary to think in three dimensions. After all, given the interference on your floor, do not forget that it is often not the only one - the “threat” can come from any direction.
')
Do not rely on the "maximum"
Remember that no matter how well you think everything over, no matter how good your equipment is, everything will never work perfectly. The maximum data transfer rate will not be provided at all sites.
Yes, and install access points immediately at the maximum transmitting power is also not worth it - sometimes 70% is enough. If you have problems with coverage, you can always increase this power. But, having lowered it previously, you will be reinsured from a superfluous interference. We did not take this into account, as a result of the interference between nearby access points immediately manifested.
Of course, this is only a small part of the nuances that play a significant role when installing a Wi-Fi network. You will deal with this topic - do not pass by specialized utilities that allow you to save time very seriously, get a beautiful printout and, most importantly, make it possible not to guess, but to know!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/207868/
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