LAN Help please

[pete_c]

Yup; you may want to do a radio survey for your wireless for optimal placement of hardware (and less hardware).
 
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/wlan_adapter/350_cb20a/user/windows/1-1/configuration/guide/incfg6/win5_apF.html

 

[Drewski]

I wish I had that capability but I don't.
 
All I can do is hook em up and test the real condition.
 
What kind of problems would be encountered with too much coverage?

 

[pete_c]

Envision this for a bit.
 
Pretend to throw two similiar sized rocks 5 feet apart in a pond and watch what happens to the waves from the rocks. 
 
Typically the waves created from each stone will meet and cancel each other out.
 

 

 
Typically for wireless you do a radio survey for placement of the wireless access points; then afterwards you tune the ap radios such that they provide you with optimal coverage.  The Ubiquiti AP's have such tools built in.  That said the "off the shelf" stuff you can buy wherever isn't really made for commercial use; but rather just home/residential use.  You can though upgrade firmware on some of these such that you can do more with the radios; IE: like using DD-WRT; gives you a bit better radio tuning (but you can do only so much with a residential box).
 
Then read this:
 
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless-mobility/wireless-lan-wlan/27147-multipath.html

 

[Drewski]

Thanks for the help.
 
So what would be the ideal signal strength diameter of the Ubiquity AP?
Does the signal travel equally in all directions?
Does the signal travel differently depending on mounting it horizontally or vertically? 

 

[pete_c]

So what would be the ideal signal strength diameter of the Ubiquity AP?

Does the signal travel equally in all directions?

Does the signal travel differently depending on mounting it horizontally or vertically?

 
Its really best explained here:
 
http://www.ubnt.com/unifi

 

[tmbrown97]

You will only need 1-2 of those AP's.  If the two floors are equal sized, I'd probably put one 1/3rd to one side on the first floor, and upstairs 1/3rd of the way in from the opposite side - and you'll probably find pretty good coverage.
 
For what it's worth, Ubiquiti's newest version of UniFi actually does some things to fix the problem Pete described with multiple AP's interfering.  To simplify there are only 3 non-overlapping 2.4ghz channels so if you end up with two AP's on the same channel within range of one another they interfere; and of course they cause RF pollution raising the noise interference.
 
The new Unifi however actually puts all radios on the same channel regardless of quantity and proximity and the AP's decide which ones will do the talking so this kinda eliminates that Wifi over-population problem; plus this eliminates handoff issues as you roam around the building.

 

[pete_c]

Curious about the wireless clients.
 
How many are there?
 
What OS are they running?
 
What are they doing or being utilized for?
 
Are they on 24/7?

 

[Drewski]

For what it's worth, Ubiquiti's newest version of UniFi actually does some things to fix the problem Pete described with multiple AP's interfering.  To simplify there are only 3 non-overlapping 2.4ghz channels so if you end up with two AP's on the same channel within range of one another they interfere; and of course they cause RF pollution raising the noise interference.
 
The new Unifi however actually puts all radios on the same channel regardless of quantity and proximity and the AP's decide which ones will do the talking so this kinda eliminates that Wifi over-population problem; plus this eliminates handoff issues as you roam around the building.

 
Is this what Ubiquiti’s Zero Handoff Roaming is?

 

[Drewski]

Curious about the wireless clients.
 
How many are there?

Between 5 and 10
 
 

What OS are they running?

Windows 7
 
 

What are they doing or being utilized for?

Entering data into the system, email, printing, and who knows what else
 
 

Are they on 24/7?

No, not a 24/7 situation

 

[pete_c]

Yup; you should be fine.  You can QOS stuff easily with the Ubiquiti setup. 
 
Will there be an internal public side to the wireless; say vendor usage or something similar for meetings; or switching of mobile phones from telco services to internal wireless?

 

[Drewski]

We would like a guest connection, yes..

 

[pete_c]

Guessing that you should be able to configure a second SSID for internal public consumption.
 
It would be more secure to create a separate network too.

 

[tmbrown97]

Is this what Ubiquiti’s Zero Handoff Roaming is?

Yes.
 
Those AP's will allow multiple SSID's and one can be guest mode with throttled bandwidth and isolation mode so they can't talk to anything on the local LAN (and you can override for access to a guest printer if needed).
 
And they're amazingly easy to set up - no complex questions - it's just totally simple and obvious what to do - as long as you stick with their Unifi line - don't do the AirOS stuff.
 
Per Pete's recommendation, you could even segregate the traffic onto a separate network by using VLAN tags for that SSID but now we're probably really getting over your head. 

 

[Drewski]

If the router used is 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compliant and the Unify Ap (UAL) is only 802.11a/b/g/n/ compliant, am i mismatching the components?
 
If the router used is 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compliant and the computer in the workroom, tasked with providing wifi in that area, has a wireless card that is 802.11a/b/g/n/ compliant am I mismatching those components?

 

[tmbrown97]

1) If going the UniFi route, you shouldn't use the wireless in the router because UniFi is a complete system meant for all the components to work together.  They don't talk to or really work with non-unifi AP's and making things work together takes an even higher skill level.
2) you have a computer providing wifi?  That also doesn't make sense.  
 
Your AP's should be hard wired if at all humanly possible - and they should be capable of whatever speeds you need.  Client devices (computers, phones, tablets, etc) will only connect at the highest speed that the AP's support that they also support.  They'll choose the highest common denominator provided there is sufficient signal.