wifi options : CBD office swamped wifi

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BTR

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#1771400 27-Apr-2017 16:02

TBH if you want good wifi in a crowded environment you are going to have to put your hand in your pocket, no ISP supplied or cheap AP is going to handle it. Why not look at a Ruckus R600 AP running their unleashed firmware that way if you need a second access point you can manage everything from the one login.

Ruckus have a kool feature called channel fly which means the AP's are constantly scanning the channels you are not using to see if a better channel becomes available. Ruckus also chose the best channel based on throughput NOT signal strength.

Good luck

Crowdie

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#1771422 27-Apr-2017 16:45

BTR:

Ruckus have a kool feature called channel fly which means the AP's are constantly scanning the channels you are not using to see if a better channel becomes available. Ruckus also chose the best channel based on throughput NOT signal strength.

Channel fly works by assigning overlapping channels and hoping that the adjacent channel interference hit is not as bad as the co-channel contention delay. In a highly contested environment this is not likely.

Ruckus does have dynamic beamforming which can significantly improve the rate over range (the distance the signal travels is the same but the data rate is higher than a non-beamformed client would achieve).

I agree that the residential kit has to go but I suspect that the customer wants an enterprise solution on a residential budget.

bagheera

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#1771454 27-Apr-2017 17:51

i a highly congested wifi area, your best bet is to install a faraday cage around the office - then you a sweet inside it ;) (and most likely the cheapish option in cbd)

michaelmurfy

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#1771465 27-Apr-2017 18:04

bagheera:
i a highly congested wifi area, your best bet is to install a faraday cage around the office - then you a sweet inside it ;) (and most likely the cheapish option in cbd)

It'll be fun trying to explain to staff they can't use mobiles anymore :)

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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bagheera

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#1771468 27-Apr-2017 18:07

michaelmurfy:
bagheera:

i a highly congested wifi area, your best bet is to install a faraday cage around the office - then you a sweet inside it ;) (and most likely the cheapish option in cbd)

It'll be fun trying to explain to staff they can't use mobiles anymore :)

that easy - "but you said nothing about mobiles phone calls - just wifi and look at how great it is now" ;)

edit:

and if the want to be picky - install a sure signal inside the cage ;)

vulcannz

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#1771539 27-Apr-2017 20:57

+1 on the Ruckus, even a second hand model from trademe.

Wifi chipsets come in different price brackets, if your AP is cheap it has a cheap chipset. The reason Cisco/HP/Aruba/Ruckus etc are more expensive is they have a fully featured chipset. This becomes noticeable in situations like yours.

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lxsw20

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#1771546 27-Apr-2017 21:04

Crowdie:

richms:

Get on 5GHz if you can, if your devices are not junk and support the DFS channels, use those since they are largely clear still.

Be careful with DFS channels as:

Not all consumer devices support DFS channels so they will not see a radio on a DFS channel.
DFS channels are required to instigate channel moves if radar is detected and down by the waterfront (if you are down that part of town) you may have issues with radar on the vessels. Some wireless clients will ignore or not understand the channel move request and disconnect when the radio changes channels.
If you can use DFS channels then do so but always test the wireless clients first.

This is my world. Full Meraki MR33 & MR52 setup, all restricted to 4 or 5 channels (DFS triggers all the time if channels are enabled) in a multi story building with other tenants. 2 site surveys have come back pretty much saying, it sucks to be you.

Crowdie

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#1771592 27-Apr-2017 22:01

vulcannz:

Wifi chipsets come in different price brackets, if your AP is cheap it has a cheap chipset. The reason Cisco/HP/Aruba/Ruckus etc are more expensive is they have a fully featured chipset. This becomes noticeable in situations like yours.

The cheaper access points have low cost chips, commonly open silicone, low cost antennas, etc. That is why they perform badly under load and in high utilisation environments. If you are installing one into a residential environment you are probably not going to notice the difference but in larger deployments their limitations appear very quickly.

vulcannz

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#1771664 28-Apr-2017 08:55

Crowdie:

vulcannz:

Wifi chipsets come in different price brackets, if your AP is cheap it has a cheap chipset. The reason Cisco/HP/Aruba/Ruckus etc are more expensive is they have a fully featured chipset. This becomes noticeable in situations like yours.

The cheaper access points have low cost chips, commonly open silicone, low cost antennas, etc. That is why they perform badly under load and in high utilisation environments. If you are installing one into a residential environment you are probably not going to notice the difference but in larger deployments their limitations appear very quickly.

Most people don't realize some parts of 'standards' are optional. So cheap chipsets drop the optional bits. Some of those optional bits can make your life a lot easier ;)

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