DESIGN-WLAN for 500 users

Question

I have a client who want to implement a LAN in a new corporate site, and he want to implement all the LAN in a WLAN. The office is a three floor building where the company assign near 200 users per floor. Each user employ windows xp system with office, sql DB, file system, etc.
I search in the Cisco web page but I did not find example of a similar implementation. It is factible to implement? Has the WLAN a similar performance that a wired LAN?

Answer 1

You can build a wireless network like this, but you need to be aware that wireless has significant bandwidth limitations.
It is easy to build a wired network where each user will have guaranteed 10 Mbps connections to the server resources. This is especially true for a site with only a few hundred users per floor.
A wireless network, on the other hand, involves a great deal of planning in order to make sure there is sufficient wireless coverage and bandwidth. Users connected to a wireless access point share the bandwidth available to that access point--must like in the days of 10BaseT hubs or 10Base2 Ethernet. On an 802.11a/g network, the best shared throughput you should expect is 22 Mbps.
Here's my advice if you really want to build a network like this:
Unified Wireless is a must. You cannot be bothered to constantly tweak the settings on the 30 access points you'll probably end up installing.
5Ghz! You want to have a dense deployment of access points. That way you will have fewer people on one access point, and should an access point fail other neighboring access points can pick up the users who otherwise would be left without a signal. Do not play with 802.11g on the 2.4Ghz spectrum. 802.11a on the 5Ghz spectrum will give you 8 indoor channels and allow for a dense access point deployment. Try to keep your users per access point under 12.
Consider the AIR1252AG access point with support for 802.11n-draft 2.0.
If the client is considering doing this wireless implimentation to save money: get out now. They are going to try and build a bargain basement wireless network and it will not work. Users will be unhappy. You will spend weeks trying to troubleshoot dead spots and noise spots. A properly implimented wireless network is just about as expensive as a wired network. On top of that, it will be slower and more prone to failure. The only real advantage of wireless networks is mobility. Users can move around, office cubicles can be rearranged, and costs are saved in the long term.