Huawei Indoor WLAN Deployment Guide

1 Project Preparation

2 Coverage Design

3 Placement Design

4 Bandwidth Design

5 Power Supply and Cabling Design

6 Project Cases

1
WLAN Planning Process

Customer
Project Demands Pre-sales planning After-sales Delivery
communication & Site survey
collection planning
quotation

Demands Survey
collection list information list
Small and medium projects with simple Large projects with complex scenarios:
scenarios: AP calculator Site survey
professional WLAN Planner Tool

The WLAN
Planner Tool can
also handle some
high demanding
pre-sales
projects.

 Set the product and scenario types and  Years of planning data to help realize automatic
enter several parameters and you can deployment of APs.
calculate the number of APs easily.  Automatic output of planning reports,
including product list and simulation diagram.
Note:
The basics and designing principles in this presentation are for reference and communication. Automatic WLAN
Planner Tool are now available.

2
WLAN Planning Process
Different scenarios have different requirements, which may lead to slight difference in planning solution and
key points to consider. The past experiences show that most planning solutions are easy, which consists of
coverage, placement, bandwidth, and cabling.
This presentation gives a brief introduction to the design principles of each process for reference.

Coverage design

Placement design
Pre-sales
WLAN
planning
Bandwidth design

Cabling design

Note: The designing principles in the presentation are version 20120808, which may be upgraded
and tested in the future. To get the latest version, visit www.3ms.huawei.com.

3
Demands Collection
Type of Demand Description Support from Planning Tool

The support for major and minor coverage

Coverage area Major coverage area and minor coverage area.
Customers with high technical skills may have some
Field strength requirements on field strength.
areas is preset in the planning tool and one-
click configuration is supported.
If customers have specific requirements on
field strength, manually configure the signal
strength on the planning tool. If customers
have no specific requirements, use the preset
experience data.

Number of access Number of online users allowed in a coverage area at the

Preset experience data (changeable)
users same time.

Services of customers and customers' limit on the bandwidth

Bandwidth of each user.
Preset experience data (changeable)

Whether customers have specific requirements on signal

The current planning tools support only indoor
Coverage mode coverage, indoor placement, indoor distributed deployment,
placement.
or outdoor coverage.
Whether customers have specific requirements on power
Power supply
supply mode, whether there are any power supply facilities The tools support PoE drawing
mode and areas, and whether they can be used or not.
Switches and network cables can be drawn
Switch location WLAN is connected to the switch.
on the planning tool.

1. A detailed drawing of the coverage area is a must.

2. Different projects may have different scenarios and requirements. The items in the list are the basic
information. Special requirements from customers must also be studied.

4
Site Survey Information
Besides the basic project requirements in the previous list, other requirements must be obtained through
site survey.
There are simple site survey and detailed site survey for different scenarios with different requirements
and investments.
Simple site survey: pre-sales project with simple scenario and no specific requirements
Simple site survey list:
Item Description

Main obstacles in the Type and specifications of the obstacles. A brick is about 240 mm thick.

coverage area Most obstacles are preset in the planning tools.

Environment of coverage Drawings cannot provide complete and clear information. So pictures need to be

area taken to show the layout, coverage area, walls and ceilings of the site.

Whether APs can be placed, the distance between APs and power source devices,
Construction feasibility
whether cabling is feasible.

Detailed site survey: The scenarios are complex or customers have high requirements on the pre-sales
planning.
Site survey list: <WLAN Indoor Site Survey Information Checklist>

5
1 Project Preparation

2 Coverage Design

3 Bandwidth Design

4 Placement Design

5 Power Supply and Cabling Design

6 Project Cases

6
Coverage Area Description

In project designing, study the scenarios and drawings and communicate with
customers to determine the WLAN coverage area.

Coverage Area Field Strength Typical Area

Dorm room, library, classroom, hotel

Key coverage area -40~-65 dBm
room, lobby, office, and hall

Corridor, kitchen, storeroom, and

Common coverage area >-75 dBm
dressing room

Area that is specified for coverage

Special coverage area N/A and installation or does not allow
coverage or installation

7
Design Principle
It is recommended that you take the coverage radius of each AP as 20 m in WLAN planning.

Note: This recommendation applies to ideal scenarios with no interference and obstacles and in which
customers have no specific requirement on field strength.

Relationship between signal transmission distance and loss:

Distance 1 m 2m 5m 10 m 20 m 40 m 80 m 100 m

2.4 G 46 dB 53.8 dB 64.2 dB 72 dB 79.8 dB 87.6 dB 95.5 dB 98 dB

5.8 G 56 dB 63.8 dB 74.2 dB 82 dB 89.8 dB 97.6 dB 105.5 dB 108 dB

Tip: Signals attenuate by 6 dB every time the transmission distance doubles.

Calculation formula for field strength (factors of interference and path loss are excluded):
Final signal strength = AP transmit power + Antenna gain - weakening value - radio attenuation due to obstacles

Theoretically, the signal strength is 5.8 GHz when the transmission distance is 20 m.
AP transmit power (20 dB) + Antenna gain(3 dB) – Signal loss due to distance (89.8 dB) – Signal loss due to obstacles
(0 dB)
= 66.8 dB

Note: The next page is the list of signal losses due to some common obstacles for your reference.

8
List of Signal Losses Due to Common Obstacles
List of signal losses due to some common obstacles

2.4 GHz Signal 5 GHz Signal Loss (dB)

Typical Obstacle Thickness (mm)
Loss (dB) (dB)

Synthetic material 20 2 3

Asbestos 8 3 4

Wooden door 40 3 4

Glass window 50 4 7

Heavy colored glass 80 8 10

Brick wall 120 10 20

Brick wall 240 15 25

Armored glass 120 25 35

Concrete wall 240 25 30

Metal 80 30 35

9
1 Project Preparation

2 Coverage Design

3 Placement Design

4 Bandwidth Design

5 Power Supply and Cabling Design

6 Project Cases

10
Channel Design Principles
1. Before planning, consult customers about the available local channels.
2. Avoid co-channel interference: Do not use the same channel in any direction.
1. Figure out the local available channels:
 In China, the available channels for 2.4 GHz frequency band are: 1, 6, and 11; and the available frequency bands
for 5 GHz frequency band are: 149, 153, 157, 161, and 165.
 Different countries or regions have different available channels. Some countries and regions have reserved
channels. Be sure to figure out all the channels before planning.

2. Avoid co-channel interference:

 Use different channels on each floor and neighboring floors in multi-floor scenarios.
 If different channels are not available, reduce transmit power to decrease overlapping coverage area.

Schematic diagram: Stereo diagram:

11&153
6
1&157 1&161
11 1
6&149 6
11&161 11&157
1 6
1&153 11

11
Placement Design Principles
1. Minimize the number of obstacles signals penetrate.
2. Ensure that the AP faces the target coverage area directly.
3. Place the AP away from interference source.

1. Minimize the number of obstacles signals penetrate:

 Minimize the number of walls and ceilings signals penetrate.
 Make sure the signals penetrate the walls and ceilings vertically.

2. Make sure the AP face the target coverage area directly.

 If only one AP needs to be installed in a hall, install it in the center of the hall ceiling. If two APs are
required, install them on the two diagonal corners of the ceiling.
 The direction of APs is adjustable. Make sure the APs directly face the target coverage area to achieve the
best coverage effect.

3. Place the AP away from interference source:

 Place APs away from electronic devices and make sure the coverage area is free of any electronic devices
like microwave cookers, wireless cameras and cordless phones.

12
1 Project Preparation

2 Coverage Design

3 Placement Design

4 Bandwidth Design

5 Power Supply and Cabling Design

6 Project Cases

13
Throughput Design Principles
AP single frequency band of an AP supports 20 users, and dual bands support 40 users
Note: This recommendation applies when users have no specific bandwidth requirements.

Relationship between per user bandwidth and number of users:

Maximum Number of Supported Users
User Bandwidth (Mbit/s) Maximum Supported Maximum
No. Users of Single Supported Users of
Downstream Upstream
Band Dual Bands
1 2 Mbps 1 Mbps 20 40
2 1.5 Mbps 512 kbps 25 45
3 512 kbps 512 kbps 30 50

Relationship between number of online users and per user bandwidth:

Number of Users 1 5 10 15 20 25 30

Bandwidth Upstream 80 10 4 2.5 1 0.5 0.5

(Mbps) Downstream 80 10 5 3 2 1.5 0.5

The tables show that available bandwidth does not decrease linearly as users decrease.
For example, when there is one user, the available bandwidth is 80 Mbps. But when there are five

online users, the available bandwidth for each user is 10 Mbps and the total bandwidth is 50
Mbps.

14
1 Project Preparation

2 Coverage Design

3 Placement Design

4 Bandwidth Design

5 Power Supply and Cabling Design

6 Project Cases

15
Design Principle
Cabling design principles
1. The lengths of cables between APs and switches must be no more than 90 m.
2. Reserve 5 m of cables for future adjustment.
3. Keep cables far away from electromagnetic field.
4. Consult with customers before planning so that customers would not object to construction
because of building exterior or property factors.

Power supply modes:

Preferentially use the PoE switch that is compatible with
1 802.3a/f.
PoE switch

Use the AC adapter when AC power supply is available.

2
Local AC power source

3 Use the PoE adapter when AC power supply is unavailable.

PoE adapter

16
1 Project Preparation

2 Coverage Design

3 Placement Design

4 Bandwidth Design

5 Power Supply and Cabling Design

6 Project Cases

17
Project Case of Office Area
Office AP coverage
The requirements collected are as follows: Building drawing of the office area:

Type of
Confirmation Result
Demand
Three-floor office building: Office area: 130 m x 80 m.
Coverage area Key area: seats and conference rooms. Common
area: corridors and tea rooms.

No specific requirement on field strength. Ensure that

Field strength
key office area can receive signals.

Number of About 100 users. For details about the distribution,

access users see the drawing.

Bandwidth
1 Mbit/s+ for each user
requirements

Coverage
Indoor
mode

Power supply
PoE power supply
mode

Switch The room next to the stair in the upper right corner of
location the office area

18
Design Principle
The information in simple site survey list are acquired when communicating with customers on site. So no need to
conduct additional site survey.
The buildings in WLAN placement scenario are basically concrete walls, glass walls and wooden doors. No other
materials or non-WiFi interference sources are present. Confirm the way of cabling on the ceiling with customers.

Device model selection:

In indoor scenarios, select AP6010DN of the 802.11n, dual frequencies, which support terminal access of multiple
protocol types and increase access users.

Coverage design:
Use load-bearing wall and other obstacles that greatly weakens signals to divide large coverage area into multiple small
areas. In this project, office area and conference rooms are divided into eight areas, each of which can be covered with
one AP. A total of eight APs are needed.

Placement design:
Each AP is ceiling mounted at the center of its coverage area and uses different channels form those of neighboring
APs. (1/149, 6/153, and 11/157)

Bandwidth design:
The total number of users are 100. Each small area holds at most 30 users, which can be covered by dual frequencies
AP. The maximum bandwidth requirement of each small area is 30M, while 11n dual frequencies APs can provide more
than 80M bandwidth, which can well satisfy the needs.

Power supply and cabling design

The distance between the PoE switch and the farthest AP is 70 m. The two can be connected.

19
WLAN Planning Tool Realizes Easy Installation
The WLAN planning tool developed by enterprise network product development team (PDT) simplifies installation and
generates professional and understandable planning report to facilities communication with customers.
The tool realizes WLAN planning in six steps:

Create a new planning project and import

1 the building drawing
2 Draw obstacles based on actual environment.

Locate the coverage area on the drawing and set

3 the coverage requirements of the area.

Note: By default, the tool will present the requirements of typical scenarios based on project
experiences. So you do not need to set the requirements of some common projects.

20
WLAN Planning Tool Realizes Easy Installation
Automatic planning and placement by
4 one click

5 Placing switches and cables

Note: When the length of cable is more than 100

m, the tool will prompt a message. - Available report in Word
6 Exporting planning report by one click. or PDF format

- Detailed product list

- High simulation graph

21
Characteristics of Different Scenarios
The following are typical indoor installation scenarios.
Besides the planning principles and steps introduced before, the following are the unique
characteristics of some scenarios.

Typical Scenario Scenario Characteristic Project Characteristic

1. Vast open space 1. The number of APs must satisfy the user and
2. Few and low obstacles bandwidth requirements.
Office building
3. High requirements on the number of access 2. Reduce AP transmit power to lower co-channel
users and bandwidth interference.
1. AP dual frequencies coverage to increase
access users.
Classroom 1. Small area with many people
2. Reduce AP transmit power to lower co-channel
interference.

1. High population mobility

1. The AP must be able to cover the whole area.
2. Low requirements on concurrent users and
Station 2. The AP must be placed high. Ceiling mounted
traffic bandwidth
AP would be the best.
3. Most access users are cell phone users.

1. Obstacles in various locations and of different

1. The AP must be able to cover the whole area.
heights
Plant Building 2. The AP must be placed high. Ceiling mounted
2. Low requirements on concurrent users and
AP would be the best.
traffic bandwidth

1. The AP must be able to cover the whole area.

1. High population mobility
2. Reduce AP transmit power to decrease
Exhibition hall 2. Low requirements on concurrent users and
interference among neighboring exhibition
traffic bandwidth
rooms.

22
Help Seeking Flow

Network solution:
Enterprise
Enterprise network
Frontline
business sales
China: personnel
department
professional
service team

Zheng Xiaodong Zhao Yawei

58904 00069768

Outside Frontline
Enterprise Enterprise
network
business sales
China: personnel department
professional
service team

Xu Zhi Zhao Yawei

00159508 00069768

WLAN Planner Tool:

Contact person: Hong Lifeng 00222589
Public e-mail: eNetwork_tools@huawei.com
Public forum: http://support.huawei.com/ecommunity/bbs/list_1009,2411.ht
ml?tclass=409

23
 HUAWEI ENTERPRISE ICT SOLUTIONS A BETTER WAY

Copyright©2012 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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operating results, future product portfolio, new technology, etc. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to
differ materially from those expressed or implied in the predictive statements. Therefore, such information is provided for reference purpose only and
constitutes neither an offer nor an acceptance. Huawei may change the information at any time without notice.