Friday, May 13, 2016

Wireless Site Survey gears #001

My first publication about Wireless Site Survey :

There are quite a few people with their own contribution so I am not re-inventing the wheel. I just think that I might contribute a bit to enlarge the general idea of conducting site survey with some tricks/tips.

This first post is all about the AP mounting/fixture, as you will see I am using a Mr.LongArm (no rocket science there)

I will be posting other solution I've used and Pros-Cons about them.

For now I would say that all your need is:

Mr Long Arm
Mr. Long Arm 3212 Pro-Pole Extension Pole, 6-to-12-Feet (choose whatever specs fit your better but think twice about whenever you'll be in the field doing the actual survey)


Mr Long Arm Angel extensions. You will need two of them.
Mr. Long Arm Mr. Long Arm 0150 Angle Adaptor for Extension Pole

Bolt/washer/nuts.
Whatever works for you but please use a washer to prevent loosening blot (Safety First)
For the washer I only had lock washers but I would rather have used a serrated lock washers or a Belleville washer. (Google is your friend)

AP mounting bracket
Name: AIR-AP-BRACKET-2 or UNIVERSAL AP MOUNTING BRACKET
P/N: 700-30482-03


In this particular case I spent a bit of time trying different type of angle and positioning of the mounting bracket. Overall you'll probably have to spent about an hour to assemble everything and test different position until you can find something that will match your need.
Please be aware that I am not guarantying any of this and please don't take my words for granted building something yourself then assuming it's safe ! I work in healthcare facilities so trust me I have to follow many rules for safety !

So, SAFETY FIRST ! If you like WiFi it means that you have some understanding of physics so please be aware of the gravity law and all kind of forces !










 

Ideally you want your AP to be leveled or at least fits the angle at which you would like the AP to be sitting/hanging at. As you can see from the previous photos the bolting of the extension arm in the middle of the mounting plate isn't working ! So I pulled the wrench again... and VOILA !




Finally I would recommend your to check out Google for more ideas there is a lot of article about people making their own AP on a stick.
https://gcatewifi.wordpress.com/tag/ap-on-a-stick/
https://www.cwnp.com/site-survey-rigs/
If by any chance you have access to a 3D printer you can even get this one
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:705857

 When it comes to buying the pole you don't have to buy Mr.Longarm. You can find the simple outdoor brush stick. Instead of the Mr.Longarm extension you can get plastic pipes and glue things to match your own tastes. The bran Unger makes pretty steady pole as well !
Update :

 
If I was about to re-do a purchase I would opt for this type of locking system, the reason is the manual screw system can wear-out over time and if you don't pay attention it goes down super fast which can damage your survey equipment. This little pin lock could prevent that, I KNOW some of you would say it's not practical because there are no enough holes (feel free to drill some more or just go buy a spring clamp).


Saturday, April 16, 2016

Wireless and the Healthcare environement



In June 2015 I joined a large regional healthcare (approximately 2500 APs and 8000 devices connected across 60 sites)

The infrastructure and environment:
Taking care of the Wireless across 60 sites our healthcare territory is 216,000 square kilometers (~83,400sq/m) can be quite challenging as apart from myself and my manager there is no-one else taking care of the WiFi infrastructure.





There is a whole world of difference between Wireless in the books and Wireless in the field when it comes to planning as well as troubleshooting.
In a perfect world, you are using accurate CAD files loaded in Ekahau Site survey which is running on a super powerful laptop with incredible battery life, you have nothing to worry about building access nor restricted areas.
Nobody is ever preventing you to get the things done nor asking you tons of questions about antennas sticking out of your laptop screen. Every single users are using the proper terminology when describing issues. Your network is perfectly converged and centrally managed as per Cisco books your entire network is made of Cisco products.
Whenever you're making a change that would involve a new package roll-out on clients devices everything happen in less than 5 minutes.

The reality is way different and I am certainly not going to run out of examples of how challenging the environment and situation can become. The scariest part being the fact that more and more devices are joining the electromagnetic party everyday.

Overall I would say that my biggest challenge is dealing with the implementation of VoWLAN using Vocera Technology, soft phone are on their way, and more Cisco VoWLAN phones to be added.
Not to mention that the initial design of the network is fare away from being consistent since the organisation slowly grasped health centers and clinics around the region.

I have countless exemple of how challenging a simple thing like setting up a TFTP or accessing a FTP can take months. Even when it's running one day you found out that someone deleted ALL your backups (Yeah I know Cisco Prime backup can take quite a lot of space)

I really have a blast working in this environnement,  there are good and bad days but I certainly have learned a lot and expended good skills on real case Site Survey + troubleshooting various type of devices. (There is nothing like hospitals when it comes to WiFi client diversity)