When possible, work with the existing conditions and layout. There may be
times when the location of the APs may be dictated by available network
connectivity. For example, copper has a length limit of 100 m (328 ft).
Whatever the problem is, there is almost always a way to correct it. In Figure
, the network
connectivity in the warehouse is only available along one wall. The warehouse
is filled with shelving that creates long, narrow aisles.
A good
solution for this warehouse may be to locate APs along the wall where they can
be connected to the network. Yagi antennas could be run down the aisles,
covering an aisle and a portion of two other aisles. The coverage could be
overlapped to cover the entire warehouse. The signal may bounce off the metal
walls at the far end of the warehouse and fill in the dead spots created by the
shelving.
Sometimes there will be areas within a site that cannot be
covered. Figure
shows a
radiology room in a hospital. The surrounding Emergency Room (ER) is covered.
The ER has drop tile ceilings, sheetrock walls, a tiled linoleum floor, and
presents very little challenge.
A patient may be brought into the
radiology room and have x-rays taken there. However, the radiology room has
heavy wooden doors, a hard cap ceiling, concrete walls, and a poured concrete
floor that are lead-lined to protect the surrounding ER.
In the example
in Figure
, there
is no coverage in the radiology room. The radiology room is designed to be
extremely sterile and the hospital administration did not want exposed wiring
and APs in the trauma room. Because of this, the hospital application was
redesigned to accommodate the occasional disconnect. The application was
changed so that during periods of disconnect, the node would store all the data
as a batch unit, and then send the data once connectivity was reestablished.