How to select the correct wireless access point?
As we've previouly disussed in the ultimate wireless network guide, choosing the right access point for your deployment is vital. It's something we cannot easily undo.
Many technical persons do not know how to the select the correct access point for their eviornement. In this article we will delve into the key properties of wireless access points that need to be considered. Note that wireless environments vary much. So there can be a complete mixture of access point types and mounting locations through out the solution.
Which Vendor?
Choosing the most suitable vendor needs to be considered in your wider network infrastructure stack or strategy. What we mean by this is you want to try and have as much integration as you can.
For example. If you are using Aruba switches then Aruba access points should be highly considered if they meet requirements.
Following on from a one vendor approach. It's important selecting and a vendor with good technical support. An advantage of having one vendor is the support team can troubleshoot network issues on more of the infrastructure. This is better than having them diagnose only one piece of the network. Having the wholistic view is lead to a fast MTTR (mean time to resolution).
Having a vendor provide good documentation always comes in handy. Wireless access point setup guides and feature tutorials save time and money for the wireless engineer and customers. This always engineers to follow best practises and recommend network design principles.
Finally having a vendor who is fully committed to keeping their hardware and software up to date. New variables are constantly introduced in a wireless deployment which can cause outages and bugs. Ensuring patches are fully tested and released before real word exploitation is what buiness should aim for.
What do access points cost?
Access points prices range massively due to a magnitude of different reasons. The main thing to what determines the cost of the best access point are the requirements.
Access points start from cheap Chinese entry level hardware all the way up to enterprise grade units with multiple radios. You need to considered if a prosumer grade access point has the capability and performance for your deployment. If it doesn't then theres no point even considering that model for costing.
Another thing considered when exploring a new business with solution is the licensing model. On the market today theres 3 different types of AP licensing models. See below with some example.
Hardware only subscription
In this model businesses will only purchase and own the physically wireless network hardware for the the deployment. The actually software and maintenance is based on a subscription model, using 1,3, and 5 years. This is mostly known in the Cisco Meraki ecosystem. The customer owns the hardware out right but pays a fixed term subscription for software updates, remote support and cloud management. One of the draw backs to this model is that if the license term becomes expired. Then the hardware basically becomes useless.
Perpetual licensing
Perpetual licensing is preferred heavily by some customers. This means that a one off transaction is paid for the hardware unit and right to use software. Typically, additional business support can be purchase for remote support and hardware replacements. But this does mean the network infrastructure will continue to work. Even after the product is end of life or is out of contract support.
Full subscription model
This model has only just broken into the network infrastructure market. Most known by Meter Networks. This model is purely Opex based with no upfront costs for hardware. The agreed monthly fee includes the hardware, software and support. This would be really beneficial for a new startup with limited funds to get started. Again, just like the Meraki solution. Your network can essentially be switched off incase of a payment issue.
Mounting & Location.
Once you've completed a predictive or onsite passive survey then you will have decided the mounting location of your access points. Depending on the location and how its mounted plays a massive factor when selecting the correct access points.
Obviously, access points can be mounted indoors or outdoors. Environmental specifications need to be considered. This includes tempreture tolerances and if and access point is IP rated for wet settings.
As you most likely know. Not all access points have the same antenna pattern with some access points designed to be used with a external antenna. Some access points are designed to be mounted on ceils where the even coverage the goal. Others are wall mounted due to very taller ceilings. See below some the antenna spread patterns and their use cases.
Omni
As can be seen in the above annotation. Omni directional access points have a even 360 coverage(donut). These type of AP's are best mounted on a ceiling no higher than 5m. Anything higher than that risks the donut pattern overshooting the client devices.
Mounting omni AP's on the wall is in efficient as a large percentage of the signal will be pointing up into the air.
Omni AP's are the most common and there fore cheapest. They are typically installed in office environments.
Panel
Directional panel antennas can be builtin in or external. They are typically mounted on a wall a few metres off the ground. They used for concentrating the signal down narrow passages.
Panel antennas are commonly used in environments with lots of racking that soak up RF. This is applicable in warehouses with large racking or super markets. Wireless engineers select panel antennas to shoot the signal down the narrow isles without worrying about interference form the surrounding objects.
Remember the clients need to be able to talk back to the AP. Consider this when asking which access point has the longest range.
Sector
Sector antennas ar typically extenral antenna used for their wide frontal beam. Therse types of antennas can be mounted both on a ceiling or wall. Albeit they are typically lcoated up high pointing at their intended clients.
These antennas are commonly using in in stadia or conferencing due to their 120 degree pattern. This is perfect for large sections of seated clients. Little to no signal is emmited behind the access point.