The Ultimate Wireless Network Guide
This is the ultimate guide for wireless networks in 2026. We aim to take you through a enterprise wireless deployment from start to finish. We will discuss of all aspects of enterprise wireless networks including wireless surveying, wireless security, access point selection and where the industry is headed.
The importance of pre deployment wireless surveys.
The first stage to any enterprise wireless deployment starts with a wireless survey. Without a wireless survey it is next to impossible to accurately determine how many access points are needed. Also what types of access points, where these access points need to be mounted and where structured cabling needs to be run.
For a pre deployment theres generally two forms of surveying:
Predictive Surveys
Predictive wifi surveys are the cheapest and quickest way of determining how many wireless access points and which types are required for a wireless install. This type of survey allows the wireless architect the virtually draw walls on obstacles overlaid on a site diagram. The software (Networks Revived uses Hamina) will calculate coverage, SNR, attenuation emitted from an access point, taking into account walls and obstacles. Modern predictive wireless software is extremely accurate but still comes with some caveats.
Passive Surveys
Passive surveys are lengthier and expensive type of survey performed onsite. Passive wifi surveys are more accurate as the wireless engineer will measure environmental factors. This includes RF attenuation, interference, spectrum analysis and practical access point mounting locations. This is something that virtual desktop software cannot account having never analysed said environment.
Once either of the above wireless survey's has been complete and a wireless network design created the architect can more accurately quote the customer for the proposed deployment. See further detail on predictive vs passive wireless surveys.
The is why pre deployment survey are so important before any work is under taken. Due to the time, effort and resource what goes into a pre deployment survey means wireless network solutions can become expensive.
Selecting the correct access points.
The remote or onsite pre-deployment wireless survey highlights the correct access type of access point needs to be selected. Once access points have been selected and mounted in the environment, then it can becomes very costly and time consuming to change. This likely will come at the expense of the wireless engineers and not the customer due to the failure of delivering the business requirements.
Below are some of the things that need to be considered when selecting the correct access points:
Vendor
You need to select a reputable vendor with good support. Cisco access points for example offer after sales hardware replacement and software support. Software support is very important as an AP is subject to bugs just like any other piece of network infrastructure.
Cost
Some access points are cloud managed vs perceptual. This means that there may be a one off purchase price or a reoccurring subscription what needs to be factored in.
Mounting location
Selecting the correct AP for its mounting location is critical. Sometimes the preferred mounting spot is not practical so selecting an AP with the suitable antenna pattern and range is important. Wireless access point external antennas maybe used for more specific use cases.
Density and capacity
Whats the access point going to be used for and where? Access points used in high traffic public areas tend to have more radios for the added load. Again this needs to be considered when selecting the relevant access point.
Overall solution and manageability
The wireless solution ultimately needs to be supported. Choosing a familiar wireless solution what can be supported by your team. The AP should have scope for future growth of the customers wireless estate.
We've briefly touched on some of the things we need to considerer when selecting an wireless access points. We discuss selecting the best access point for your business, covering all the above point in greater detail.
Lightweight or Autonomous Deployment?
Now that we chosen our potential vendor and the type of access points we need. Now we need to decide weather we'll configuring a lightweight or autonomous(standalone) wireless deployment.
There are some differences between the two.
Lightweight Access Point
Lightweight access point mode means the AP is essentially brainless. What we mean by this is that many of the control plane and management plane services are handled by a controller. This is specifically known as a wireless lan controller.
Wireless lan controllers manage SSID's, authentication, firmware updates, RF management, monitoring and security policies.
This becomes very advantageous during a large deployment were we can manage every AP in a single pane of glass. Although is the most common model used in enterprise. Theres also some drawbacks, especially in small business.
Autonomous(Standalone) Access Point
Autonomous access points, also known as standalone or local mode AP's. This AP mode means that all functionality of the AP is performed by the AP itself. This includes data, control and management plane traffic. This means any RF management, authentication and firmware updates all have to configured independently on each AP. This self configuration mode has with positive points but also negative. Especially when it comes to scale..
Lets dive deeper into the differences between lightweight vs autonomous access point deployments. We will discuss the core differences, when is it applicable to use either model, how we configure either mode and how we manage either deployment type.