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Aironet Antenna Selection for Production Facility with High Ceilings

Ed Gilley
Level 1
Level 1

I am hoping someone can help me select the proper antenna and A/P spacing to use on an Aironet 2602E (with 5508 controller) for a project I am designing.  The building is a production facility that is currently being built (cannot do a site survey as roof not on yet).  The building is 370’ x 800’ but A/P mounting height will be at bottom of roof trusses (34’).  Area is wide-open with production machinery at heights of about 20’ max and a few small areas where raw and finished materials are temporarily stored with racks at about 18’.  I’ve done installs at height of 23’ with the AIR-ANT2524DW-R dipoles which worked well but am unsure of the additional 11’ in height.  I’ve seen some other posts recommending AIR-ANT2544V4M-R and AIR-ANT2566P4W-R but am inconclusive on the best selection and placement.

Thanks in advance.

7 Replies 7

At that height I would recommend against omni directional. Using omni directional will leave your APs able to hear each other better than the clients. 

Your selection of the AIR-ANT2566P4W-R is sound. Even with that radiation pattern your spacing will be pretty generous due to the 34' height. How high will the clients be? Hopefully you can survey with a lift once stationary racks and machinery are in place to get a true view of the coverage.

Angle on the 2566P4W is 105/70 I think, so figure out the pattern in free space, then go from there...

Thanks TJ for the insight.  The clients will be at floor level (3'-4' scan guns, laptops, wireless printers).  Figuring the 105/70 out I am getting an oblong footprint of around 90'x46' on the floor from the 34' height.  Does that seem correct?  So my A/P spacing should be approximately 125' apart?  What about the A/P's on the longer side of the oblong shape, should they be positioned closer together than 125'?  

In addition I was reading that there could be reflectivity causing distortion pointing the directional antenna directly at the ground.  Would that apply in this case where it is at a mounting height of 34'?

You should not see reflection at that height.

You can stagger the APs to fill the space with overlapping coverage. You would do every 90 feet and 40 feet. It would look like a brick structure for the coverage, if that makes sense.

I recommend getting a hold of an AP and antenna, finding a way to place at 34', and surveying it at the power of your client. This will learn volumes from this single AP survey on a new antenna.

Check out this link http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/solutions/Enterprise/Borderless_Networks/Unified_Access/CMX/CMX_APPlaceCapPlan.html

 

Hello TJ, can I use the AIR-ANT2566P4W-R with the 3700/2700 series APs?

I do not use the 2566P4W-R and opt to use a third party. 

One note on the 3700 is that the wave 2 module will be omni-directional. Keep this in mind for your upgrade strategy and decision for 3700/2700.

Ed Gilley
Level 1
Level 1

Thanks TJ. Has anyone else used the AIR-ANT2566P4W-R in this configuration and if so, what type of results did you obtain?

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