User Guide

WFS709TP ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch Software Administration Manual
4-8 RF Plan
v1.0, June 2007
• Design Model. Use these radio buttons to specify which design model to use in the placement
of APs.
• Users. Use this field to specify the number of users on your WLAN.
• Rates. Use this pull-down to specify the data rates desired on APs.
Radio Type
Specify the radio type or types of your APs using the pull-down Radio Type menu. Available
Radio Type choices are:
• 801.11a. 5-GHz, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with data rates up to
54 Mbps.
• 802.11b. 2.4-GHz, Direct Spread Spectrum (DSSS) multiplexing with data rates up to 11
Mbps.
• 802.11g. 2.4-GHZ, OFDM/CCK (Complementary Code Keying) with data rates up to 54
Mbps.
Overlap Factor
The overlap factor is the amount of signal area overlap when the APs are operating. Overlap is
important if an AP fails, as it allows the network to self-heal with adjacent APs powering up to
assume some of the load from the failed device. Although there might be no holes in coverage in
when this occurs, there is likely to be a loss of throughput. Increasing the overlap allows for higher
throughputs when an AP has failed, and also allows for future capacity as the number of users
increases.
The valid range of values for the overlap factor is from 100% to 1000%.
Design Model
Three radio buttons on the page allow you to control the kind of model used to determine the
number and type of APs:
• Coverage. Use this option to let RF Plan automatically determine the number of APs based on
desired data rates and the configuration of your building.
• Capacity. Use this option to let RF Plan determine the number of APs based on the total
number of users, ratio of users to APs, and desired data rates.
• Custom. Use this option to specify a fixed number of APs.
The desired rate is selectable from 1 to 54 Mbps in both the Coverage and Capacity models.