Introduction

When installing or upgrading a structured cabling plant, IT departments can demonstratesignicant time and money savings by determining their wireless LAN (WLAN) requirementsand olding them into the project right rom the start. The reason is that while WLANsprovide over-the-air communication in the access network in areas where mobility andportability are needed, they also create new cabling requirements at the back end, otenin hard-to-reach places. It’s ar less expensive and labor intensive to do all cabling at once,without ceilings, walls and other obstructions in the way, than to install WLAN cablinglater as a separate project.The most common way o deploying WLAN access points (APs) is to mount them in ceilings andcable them directly to an Ethernet switch port. Generally, a 15- to 20-oot piece o cable called aservice loop is let in the ceiling (

Figure 1

) in case an AP later needs to be moved slightly to tunecoverage or avoid intererence rom other RF devices, such as wireless phones and microwaveovens. Planning or those cable runs upront, in addition to your other network cabling needs, isnancially and operationally prudent, allowing your organization to purchase all the necessarymaterials and labor in bulk with a corresponding volume discount.I you consider only your wired network as you plan or your new inrastructure, you’ll likelyhave to pull additional cabling or your wireless equipment as a separate project. You mightalso have to change out some switches and power injectors. That situation can be painulon a number o ronts.

Smart Planning for NewNetwork Infrastructures

When you have the luxury to cable a building rom scratch, it pays to includewireless networks in your upront plan and budget.

By Ahmet Tuncay,Chie Technology Ofcer andVice President, Trapeze Networks and Paul Kish, Director o Systems and Standards, Belden

Table of Contents

Introduction1After-the fact Costs 2How to Plan for WiFi 2Telecommunications RoomConsiderations 4Cable and Power Types6 Conclusion 6

Figure 1

Additional cabling from telecommunications room switches to Wi-Fi mounting locations in ceilings shouldbe accounted for in the upfront cabling plan, leaving a 15- to 20-foot service loop at the end as wiggle room in case APlocations later require adjusting.

Where to Install Wireless Cable

Other FloorsFirst FloorEquipmentRoom orData CenterTelecommunicationsRoom

PoEEthernetSwitchRouter/ Firewall

Main Cross-connectPublic SwitchedTelephone NetworkInternet

ServiceLoopDataVideoVoice

Application ServersRiserCable

EthernetSwitch

After-the-fact Costs

The ater-the-act approach involves thecost o opening up ceilings and walls, as wellas the possible cost o business downtimewhile the environment remains ripped apart.These actors can increase the overall cablingproject cost by 2 to 4 times, depending on thesize and structural complexity o the property.The greater the importance o aesthetics ina building, the more dicult and expensivethe ater-the-act cabling job is likely to be(

Figure 2

). For example, there might be costs associatedwith patching or repairing walls and ceilings.Network integrator quotes that includestructured cabling oten do not account orthese expenses, which can rear their headsas unexpected “change orders” not coveredby your budget.An additional consideration is the cost o thecable itsel. The cable can cost more i boughtin an add-on, incremental quantity, ratherthan as part o your initial volume order.Note, too, that the telecommunicationsroom contains most o the equipmentrequired or the distribution network thatsupports the wireless APs:Ethernet switches, Power over Ethernet (PoE)switches and power injectors, phone systemelements and uninterruptible power supplies,or example. These active devices requireheating, ventilation and air conditioning(HVAC) and AC or DC power and can thus bemore costly i installed ater the building hasbeen constructed.These are among the reasons that auniversal IT best practice is to evaluate allnetwork inrastructure requirements anytime a property is built or opened up orremodeling. IT personnel are accustomedto taking these opportunities to visit thecabling requirements o traditional Ethernetswitches, desktops, printers, servers androuters. But wireless is a comparatively newnetwork type or mainstream use. It simplymight not occur to planners to piggybackthe network design and cabling aspectso a current or uture wireless projectonto the wired one.Both have signicant cabling componentsto them, though, so they should both be takeninto consideration. Viewing the wired-wirelessnetwork design and cabling inrastructure asone cohesive project makes installing wireless,when you are ready, a smooth process withminimal associated costs and headaches.

How to Plan for Wi-Fi

I your new building is under construction,how do you know where ceilings will be ormounting APs? How do you plan aroundsources o intererence that might eventuallybe present? Don’t you have to wait until thebuilding is actually constructed to gure thisout–when it’s too late to reap the costs o pre-planning? Fortunately, the latest Wi-Fisurveying and planning tools eliminate thischicken-and-egg situation by allowing youto electronically pre-design the WLAN beorethe building is even constructed.Historically, most companies installingWi-Fi have conducted a physical site surveyby walking around the building, mountingindependent APs in places estimated to beappropriate or the desired coverage andhoping or the best. I there were coverageholes or irregular perormance in certainareas, they have carried handheld or laptop-based spectrum analysis tools to the area totroubleshoot the problem. They could thenremount APs or change AP channels toimprove perormance and coverage.That process has historically worked wellor small installations o one or two APs.But it quickly becomes unwieldy as wirelessnetworks become mainstream throughoutthe building. A healthy dose o automationis now necessary to appropriately plan andscale building-wide Wi-Fi networks.

Figure 2

The site survey after building is more accurate than an automated survey, but then you cannot affordto audit the site for accuracy. An automated site survey gives you good accuracy and low follow up (audit) costs,making it a better value overall.

Building

100,000 square feet

Option 1

Site Survey After Building is In(without automated tools)

Approx $8,400

Option 2

Pre-build Automated Site Survey Approx. $1,500Site Audit After Equipment is Installed Approx. $3,500

Total Approx $5,000

Sample Wireless Installation Costs

Figure 3

Using automated site planning tools, which rely on blueprint information, allows you to know ahead of time where your AP cable drops will need to be.

Use Automated Site Planning Tools

It has become possible to easily design theentire wireless network beore the building iseven constructed. All you need is a blueprintor the structure and an automated Wi-Fi sitesurvey tool. You can import the blueprint intothe electronic survey and planning program,and it will automatically tell you where toplace APs and how many you will need,based on your wireless goals and what typeo Wi-Fi equipment you intend to purchase.One such tool is the RingMaster® managementproduct rom Trapeze Networks, a Beldenbrand. RingMaster works with Trapeze’s Wi-FiWLAN inrastructure equipment both toautomatically create the wireless networkdesign and to manage the wireless networkpost-deployment (

Figure 3

).Such site-planning tools account or theimpact o building materials, glass windows,metal doors and other RF attenuators. Theybase their design decisions primarily by takinginto account these variables on the blueprint.But they also require some basic inormationrom you. So you need to make a ew uprontdecisions, described below.

Make Certain Decisions Upfront

First you need to decide where in the buildingyou want network connectivity. Then decideor each location whether that connectivityshould be wired, wireless or both.Ideally, to create an accurate electronicWi-Fi design, you should know whatapplications your WLAN will support, whowill have access to the network and wherethey are likely to roam throughout thebuilding. Obviously, the location componentis more dicult to predict in a mobile userenvironment than in a traditional wire-lineenvironment, where PC-to-Ethernet switchport connections remain stationary. However,your organization should decide whether itintends to give users near-ubiquitous coveragethroughout the building or whether coveragein common areas will suce.That decision might depend on the wirelessapplications you wish to support. For example,wireless networks that will be supporting Voice over IP (VoIP) as all or part o an internalmobile voice strategy usually require a moredense, overall AP deployment than those thatprovide wireless data access. Data networkingis ar more tolerant o packet loss, deliverydelays and jitter than voice. Voice requiresstable, ubiquitous coverage and minimumdelays when connections are handed o rom AP to AP as a user roams.