White Paper

Wireless LAN Design Guide for High Density

Client Environments in Higher Education

Site Survey

• Visually inspect the site for multipath potential and placement options for the APs and antennas

• Walking the site using a good survey tool is highly recommended. Using a Live RF tool such as AirMagnet Surveyor will enable

an evaluation of RF propagation and the ability to actively transmit data and evaluate range and data rate coverage.

WLAN Design Tools

Providing a high-density WLAN is clearly a challenging project but these networks are increasingly being deployed. Knowing

what is in place and using a spectrum today are essential steps. Knowing where a spectrum is going at installation is critical.

Maintaining the environment also requires regular observation and occasional troubleshooting, as WLAN dynamics have a

tendency to change over time. Most of the management concerns can be eliminated by implementing Cisco WCS, but the

importance of the site survey during the planning and deployment cannot be emphasized enough. The need for good tools

and accurate assessments increase with the density of the deployment. There is a fine line between interference and usable

spectrum in a high-density WLAN.

Cisco WCS version 7.0 MR1 enjoys integration with both Ekahau Site Survey 5.1 and AirMagnet/Fluke Survey Pro and Planner

v 8.1. These integrations will reduce the effort involved in processing and sharing information between the management

platform and survey tools. This reduces both the time and effort required while maximizing accuracy for planning and lifecycle

management of the resulting network.

• For more information on Cisco WCS and Ekahau Site Survey: Recording: Integration between Ekahau Site Survey and Cisco WCS

• For more information on Cisco WCS and AirMagnet Surveyor and Planner pro integration see:

Webinar: Cisco WCS Integration with AirMagnet Survey and Planner

Calibration

When the word calibration is used in the context of tools, it generally refers to the need to test and adjust the accuracy of certain

measurement tools against a reference signal to certify that the results produced are accurate. In wireless networking, most tools

rely on a network adapter used for site surveys or to conduct specific measurements. Network adapters rarely if ever require

calibration. Network adapters can and do vary widely on their assessment of the physical layer. Here are some best practices

that can be used to ensure that data produced from multiple sources is useful and accurate when compared.

For laptop-based tools, it is important to be certain that the network adapter used is consistent between different tools and data

sets that will be compared. This means that all laptops used for surveying should have the same adapter and driver software.

Different results can be derived even when using the same adapter with the same driver software on different platforms.

Antennas and the placement of the antennas are generally driven by the physical space available in a platform and design

compromises will vary platform to platform. This will effect how the radio perceives the world. Compare different platforms in a

static environment before committing to a survey.