Specifications

Pre-deployment Site Survey
For Meru, pre-install site surveys are often not required. A site survey may be recommended
if the environment is particularly challenging such as cruise ships, manufacturing facilities,
cold storage facilities, warehouses, etc.
A sample pre-site survey will aid in determining optimal AP placement. A sample pre-site
survey is accomplished by identifying locations that are representative of the larger
installation site. Sample site surveys are performed in those locations. Using this method
allows us to get a good idea of the type of coverage that will be required throughout the
installation without requiring a survey of the entire site.
DETERMINING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Conduct Customer Interviews
Here is where we discover the requirements of the wireless network. We need to gather
information about all of the applications that will be used, as well as the requirements for
performance, client density, system availability and security.
Again, it is very difficult to create a design without first knowing the requirements. Therefore
it is absolutely critical that this portion of the project be handled with the utmost attention to
detail and thoroughness.
Identify any specific pain points to solve if there is a previous wireless infrastructure.
Remember to solicit input from all stake holders!
Establish Wireless Requirements
Here is where we take a closer look at the wireless requirements. We ask questions such as:
•
What are the coverage, density and RF requirements?
•
Are there known sources of non Wi-Fi interference (e. g. 2.4 GHz cordless phones,
microwave ovens, etc.)?
•
Are there sources of Wi-Fi interference from neighbors?
In hospitals there can be great number of sources of Wi-Fi and non Wi-Fi interference. For
example an MRI station and its console may have their own 802. 11 based connection and
there are high power microwave ovens used to warm heat packs used in physical therapy.
These types of devices will cause interference on the channels they are occupying.
Spectrum Scan
While the customer may have a good idea of the existing RF environment there may be
sources of interference that are unknown. This is where a spectrum analyzer will be of great
use. Knowing what is going on in the frequency ranges we intend to use is critical to the
success of a wireless network. Understanding if there are other sources of interference (i.e.
non Wi-Fi sources) can be the difference between a network the works some times and a
network the works all the time.
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