5 tips for deploying 802.11ac

The rapid spread of self-built devices (BYOD) has brought about an unprecedented number of devices to be supported by enterprises, resulting in capacity problems. In addition, the network is under pressure from high-bandwidth applications such as audio and video streams. In the face of various performance requirements, any technology that can improve the capacity and wireless network terminal user experience can be favored by network planners.

The Next Generation Wireless LAN (WLAN) Standard-802.11ac-is expected to solve the above bandwidth problems. Hardware vendors have launched compatible access points (APS) and wireless clients. Enterprises now need to consider how to fully integrate 802.11ac into the network. Like any network upgrade, to correctly deploy and make full use of the capacity advantages of 802.11ac, you must carefully plan to avoid common network transformation problems.

Tips for deploying 802.11ac:

1. Capacity Design

With the average enterprise mobile device/user ratio approaching 3 (laptops, tablets, and/or smartphones), wireless networks are already facing capacity problems. The high data rate of 802.11ac can improve the customer's capacity and performance, provided that WLAN is well planned and deployed. Increasing the channel width (80 and 160 MHz bandwidth channels) and high MCS (modulation and encoding policies) is crucial for capacity improvement.

2. Ensure backward compatibility with 802.11 a/n Devices

Migration to 802.11ac cannot be achieved overnight. Always ensure that the deployment of 802.11ac is backward compatible with old devices. Although 802.11ac is backward compatible with 802.11n and 802.11a, the performance of the 802.11ac client may be adversely affected due to the slow transmission rate of the 802.11a/n client. Identifying the regions that need to support old devices and planning the deployment of 802.11ac will maximize the performance of all clients.

3. Pre-deployment survey site

Perform a proper survey, evaluate the coverage of the current network, and determine whether an access point needs to be added. When planning updates, you need to find out the obstacles in the current environment. Ensure that the actual throughput of the current network is measured and whether the requirements are met. Do I need to support high-bandwidth applications in a specific region? Is wireless access mainly used for Web browsing? Tools such as AirMagnet 8.6 of fluke networks help accelerate this process and provide guidance on these issues.

4. carefully plan the network and use the survey results to reduce deployment problems

Carefully determine the number and location of access points based on the user group and pre-deployment survey results. In addition, determine which regions require a wider channel to Maximize throughput and how to allocate it to access points to minimize interference with the same channel and improve performance as much as possible.

5. Verify after deployment

Determine the network performance after deployment. Are there areas with insufficient coverage or channel interference? What is the actual throughput? Determine the backup status of the 802.11ac network as required. Successful user experience is always the most important verification.

When designing an 802.11ac deployment plan, you must focus on the actual performance of end users. In short, end users seldom care about how strong the signals are displayed on their Wi-Fi connection icons. What they need is that the network connection speed becomes faster and can be quickly loaded into webpages, and play the video smoothly.

Before deploying hardware, network planners can use tools to view the diagrams of the actual network environment, detect Access Point configurations and network settings, and understand the potential impact on the performance of end users. Pre-planning and scenario testing will achieve smooth 802.11ac deployment and fully meet the various requirements of end users. Otherwise, you may need to re-configure it after deployment.