Site survey with dual radio AP

Hello
I would like some opinions on how to perform a site survey when surveying for both 2.4 and 5GHz.
Assume that the installation want good coverage on both 2.4 and 5GHz and that they use dual radio ap. Should I map one radio cell using 5GHz and then just assume that 2,4 will cover the same area and then some? Or should I do two walkabouts, one for each freq band and map them separately? I suppose the correct way would be to measure a cell twice, but time is money...
Does anyone have any experience on roaming between interfaces on the same AP? If I optimize both 2.4 and 5 coverage, then, in theory, the client could need to roam from 5GHz to 2.4 GHz.
Perhaps the best solution would be to identify power settings where signal strength on both 2.4 and 5GHz are equal.

I agree that time is money, but saving on money during the pre-installation phase may cause you more money and more headaches than you bargained for down the road.
I have used to AirMagnet product, and their Surveyor is perfect for what you are doing, but it is pricy.
Regardless, I would do seperate surveys for 5 and 2.4. They are different in their distance and interference.
I had a few times that when I did a survey before we got the AirMagnet software, I just went around with a map and marked down my location and put the signal strength and quality in an excel spreadsheet, and put together a decent looking coverage map with Visio. You can do quite a bit without spending a lot of money, but it takes up a lot of time.
For customers that didn't want to spend the money up front, we just would over engineer the equipment and lower the power settings if needed. It seems easier to justify buying extra AccessPoints than spending money on a survey to the bosses. But I think that a good pre-install survey is absolutely necessary.

Similar Messages

Site Survey with 7920 phone

I have a multiple 7920 phone and multiple AP in my environment. Some of the phones are hardware version 2 and others are version 1.
When I do a site survey with 2 phones at the same exact spot I see diffrefnt signal strengths with each phone. both of the phones are set to the same transmit power and both phones are associated with the same AP. If I hold both phones togather and walk arount both phone will show huge diffences in signal strength. I would expect to see some minor diffrences but usualy the diffrence is 10 or more.
any thoughts?

RSSI is a relative # and the 7920 averages the last 5 scans. Depending on the scan times these could be different and will almost never be indentical.
Also ensure these are both running 1.08 firmware.
There are only minor tooling differences in rev2 hardware.

Question about WLAN Site Surveys with 802.11n APs - 1142s

I do site surveys a little differently that everyone else nowadays, I believe. In the past, I used an autonomous 1230 or 1240, but now I use a lightweight 1142. I configure a port in a room to be on the AP VLAN and I connect my 1142 to the port and hang it where I want - it then gets on the controller and start broadcasting just like the finished product will. This works well except for the time it takes me to configure a port on the switch and the bootup time for the AP. I'm one of the Networks Architects on a campus of almost 200 buildings, so I have access to all the routers and switches and can configure anything I need while onsite.
Now I want to have someone else (in-house) to do our surveys - but this person(s) does not have access to switches and routers, and that won't ever change.
I tried configuring a lightweight 1142 in HREAP mode to handoff to this person, but it appears the power and channel settings don't stick on the 5 GHz side.
Scrapping that idea, I now have to build out an autonomous 1142 for site surveying. I missed out on this step because I went from buying 1242s (can jump between lightweight and autonomous) to 1142s (which didn't have an autonomous image at that time, I believe). This is why I started surveying with lightweight 1142s.
I'm curious if anyone has gone through the configuration of an autonomous 1142 and wouldn't mind sharing their "lessons learned". I haven't seen a matrix of features that are supported/not supported on 1142s when configured for lightweight vs. autonomous.
I currently aim for designing around the 5 GHz radios set to 10 dBm, 20% cell overlap. I also turn on 40 MHz channels in 5 GHz range. This usually ends up with an AP in every other or every third classroom, depending on how old the building is and how many times it has been renovated. I can't "just throw APs out there" since each building is different - some are thin concrete block, some are poured cement, and some are block with metal mesh and stucco. Those usually end up with on AP per classroom.
Does anyone have a matrix on what can and cannot be turned on in an autonomous AP? I would like to get my config as close to the lightweight scenario we deploy for all of our production WLANs.

There is no matrix as to what you're asking for. I've done conversions and configurations of AP's from Lightweight to Autonomous and vice-versa. The configuration of the autonomous AP can be identical to the Lightweight AP from a client perspective.
My current setup has 3 SSID's (VoIP, Data, and Guest) on the autonomous AP. Couple things I do:
1. PoE powered AP through a Tessco power pack.
2. VLANs have to be enabled on the AP (1 for each SSID)
3. The SSID's will have to be created and each AP mapped to a VLAN
4. The SSID's will be need to be enabled on both radios if desired.
The easiest way to configure the AP is to power it with either the power cord.
Console into the AP and let it boot. Assign an IP address to the BVI 1 interface.
Assign an IP address on the wired NIC of our laptop and plug an ethernet cable into the AP's ethernet port.
Configure the AP as listed above via the web gui.
This is by no means a complete answer, but your questions were all over the map.
Regards,
Jerry

Site Survey with 1142 AP

The older Airespace APs had a site survey mode which was handy for just that. With IOS for the 1142 not being released yet, I was pondering a workaround
I was thinking of configuring an 1142 for HREAP - Authentication Local / switch local and then disconnect it from the network. I am unsure if the AP would bring the radio up if the Ethernet interface was disconnected? Can anyone comment on this?
Thanks!

You can also configure a fallback role for the access point radio. The access point automatically assumes the fallback role when its Ethernet port is disabled or disconnected from the wired LAN. There are two possible fallback roles:
Repeater-When the Ethernet port is disabled, the access point becomes a repeater and associates to a nearby root access point. You do not have to specify a root access point to which the fallback repeater associates; the repeater automatically associates to the root access point that provides the best radio connectivity.
Shutdown-The access point shuts down its radio and disassociates all client devices.

What will I see when doing site survey with WRT and WRE?

I have just successfully setup with security, my WRE54G to my WRT54GS. It wasnt easy, lots of resets and disabling of security, but I didnt have to set a statis IP (which I am happy about)
However, now that I am searching for a connection on my laptop (wirelessly) I see to available networks but both are with the same name (the name of my original wireless network).
Is this right? If so, this gets confusing as I am not sure which I am connecting too.
Then if I change from one to another, I have to enter in the passphrase, which gets annoying.
Is there anyway to have a differnent name of my Wireless network vs the Wireless Expander?

The RE, as I understand it, just extends the router signal that it is connected to. That is why it is imperative that the setup be EXACTLY the same. In my case, I stupidly put some capital letters in my SSID but didn't put them in when I setup the RE. Took me the longest time to figure that out....That you see two "networks" on site survey is OK. That you can connect to them differently is weird and that you have to enter the security passphrase suggests that you really haven't been successful in setup. So, Dibbler's advice is correct. Make sure the router and RE settings are the same and the firmware is upgraded.
I can't tell what device I am connected to and I really don't care. I just know that the place I was connecting from prior to the RE was far from the router and I would get the "limited connection" warning and no internet. With the RE and closer to my laptop, I always get "excellent" signal and an internet connection. I assume I'm connecting to the RE but it is seamless.
Also, make sure you the supply the MAC address of the router if the RE is v.1. Got that from the full user guide at the Linksys WRE54g product page.
If you really want different SSIDs I think you need to get a bridged access point.
Message Edited by Luckydog on 06-20-2007 06:11 AM
Message Edited by Luckydog on 06-20-2007 06:15 AM

Site Survey with ap3500i

Hey,
I have a question about sitesurveying with ap3500's
I'm going to deploy a wireless network in a new building, i have a company that normaly does my site surveys.
I normally provide them with some AP's configured with a designated ssid and local power modes set to 50%, however this does not seem possible with the new 3500i's i'm willing to use, for there is no IOS image available for it.
I dont have any network connectivity yet in this new building, so i cannot f.i place them in a separate ap-group and assign a dedicated wlan to them.
Can Anybody think of a viable solution (ASAP) Thanx in advance
Frans verschoor

leolaohoo wrote:We use 1140s for site surveys in our 3502i deployments.Not recommended.
I have the same questions as Thomas. In the thread below I tried to find out any differences between these APs but the consensus was that ClearAir was the only notable difference. The only way the 1140 would be not recommended for a passive survey is if there is differences in the antenna pattern, and active survey if there's a difference in chipset or hardware. So what are the differences?
https://supportforums.cisco.com/message/3398804#3398804

Site-to-site VPN with dual ASA 5510s

Hi,
I have recently been asked to configure a VPN between two sites using an ASA 5510 at each end. I used the VPN Site-to-site wizard in ASDM on both devices and followed the instructions for the wizard to the letter. However I don't seem able to get any kind of VPN up and running. If anyone could point out where I'm going wrong then I would very much appreciate it.

Here is the sanitised running config of SiteA:
ASA Version 8.0(2)
hostname MCRASA
domain-name isal.local
enable password xxx
names
interface Ethernet0/0
description External WAN
nameif outside
security-level 0
ip address 81.*.*.82 255.255.255.240
interface Ethernet0/1
description Internal LAN
nameif inside
security-level 100
ip address 192.168.254.2 255.255.255.0
interface Ethernet0/2
description Demarcation zone
nameif dmz
security-level 50
ip address 10.30.30.1 255.255.255.0
interface Ethernet0/3
shutdown
no nameif
no security-level
no ip address
interface Management0/0
description MCRASA management
nameif management
security-level 100
ip address 192.168.2.1 255.255.255.0
management-only
passwd xxx
ftp mode passive
dns server-group DefaultDNS
domain-name isal.local
same-security-traffic permit inter-interface
same-security-traffic permit intra-interface
access-list outside_1_cryptomap extended permit ip 192.168.254.0 255.255.255.0 host 82.*.*.50
access-list inside_nat0_outbound extended permit ip 192.168.254.0 255.255.255.0 host 82.*.*.50
pager lines 24
logging enable
logging asdm informational
mtu outside 1500
mtu inside 1500
mtu dmz 1500
mtu management 1500
icmp unreachable rate-limit 1 burst-size 1
asdm image disk0:/asdm-602.bin
no asdm history enable
arp timeout 14400
global (outside) 1 interface
nat (inside) 0 access-list inside_nat0_outbound
nat (inside) 1 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0
route outside 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 81.*.*.82 1
timeout xlate 3:00:00
timeout conn 1:00:00 half-closed 0:10:00 udp 0:02:00 icmp 0:00:02
timeout sunrpc 0:10:00 h323 0:05:00 h225 1:00:00 mgcp 0:05:00 mgcp-pat 0:05:00
timeout sip 0:30:00 sip_media 0:02:00 sip-invite 0:03:00 sip-disconnect 0:02:00
timeout uauth 0:05:00 absolute
dynamic-access-policy-record DfltAccessPolicy
aaa authentication ssh console LOCAL
http server enable
http 192.168.254.0 255.255.255.0 inside
http 192.168.2.0 255.255.255.0 management
no snmp-server location
no snmp-server contact
snmp-server enable traps snmp authentication linkup linkdown coldstart
crypto ipsec transform-set ESP-3DES-SHA esp-3des esp-sha-hmac
crypto map outside_map 1 match address outside_1_cryptomap
crypto map outside_map 1 set pfs
crypto map outside_map 1 set peer 82.*.*.50
crypto map outside_map 1 set transform-set ESP-3DES-SHA
crypto map outside_map interface outside
crypto isakmp enable outside
crypto isakmp enable inside
crypto isakmp policy 10
authentication pre-share
encryption 3des
hash sha
group 2
lifetime 86400
telnet timeout 5
ssh 192.168.254.0 255.255.255.0 inside
ssh timeout 5
console timeout 0
management-access management
dhcpd address 192.168.2.2-192.168.2.5 management
dhcpd enable management
threat-detection basic-threat
threat-detection statistics
class-map inspection_default
match default-inspection-traffic
policy-map type inspect dns preset_dns_map
parameters
message-length maximum 512
policy-map global_policy
class inspection_default
inspect dns preset_dns_map
inspect ftp
inspect h323 h225
inspect h323 ras
inspect rsh
inspect rtsp
inspect esmtp
inspect sqlnet
inspect skinny
inspect sunrpc
inspect xdmcp
inspect sip
inspect netbios
inspect tftp
service-policy global_policy global
webvpn
csd image disk0:/securedesktop-asa-3.2.1.103-k9.pkg
username fraser password xxx encrypted privilege 15
username fraser attributes
memberof LOCAL
tunnel-group 82.*.*.50 type ipsec-l2l
tunnel-group 82.*.*.50 ipsec-attributes
pre-shared-key *
prompt hostname context
Cryptochecksum:xxx

Site Survey with an LWAP?

I need to survey a new building for wireless. Actually it's an old nursing home.
In the old days I would setup an IOS AP as a DHCP server on a telescoping pole mounted to a cart.
Can I convert an AIR-LAP to IOS and do something similar?
How do you all do surveys for LWAPs?
Thanks!

Yes you can convert the AP to lightweight and vice versa:
Using a TFTP Server to Return to a Previous Release
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/access_point/conversion/lwapp/upgrade/guide/lwapnote.html#wp160918
https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-18268
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/access_point/conversion/lwapp/upgrade/guide/lwapnote.html#wp160918
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ_NuxdRhQ4
https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-14960
Thanks,
Scott
*****Help out other by using the rating system and marking answered questions as "Answered"*****

Wireless site survey doubts with cisco aironet site survey utility tool

Hi,
I have 1131 autonomous AP and we have project where we need to implement WLC 5500 with 1140 LAP.
Before that , we need to do site survey . we are going to use cisco aironet adapter and with the help of site survey utility tool we are planning to do site survey .
I have below doubt before starting the site survey :
1) do we need to configure the AP 1131 with existing LAN set-up of client to get connected ?
If yes , how can i shift this 1131 ap always from one location to another location and connect to respective vlan in switch ? It would be tedious job ....
because , We need to connect ( get associated ) our laptop always to 1131 ap and then roam around to get the RSSI , signal strength , SNR and throughput .... ...
to configure the AP to existing lan set-up of client , it would not be flexible to do site survey ?
without that , how can I just plug-in power to 1131 AP with standalone configuration .... and without connecting to switch ( any lan-port ) , do the site survey ?
Please suggest me .............
In short , without connecting to LAN set-up of client , how can i do the site survey ?
2) will it be worth to do site survey with cisco aironet card ( site survey utility ) ? or we should i have different site survey software for the same ?
Please share the knowledge ....

Site Surveys are important and should be done by a professional. A poor site survey can lead to a lot of problems. It would be hard to put all aspects of conducting a proper site survey in a single post. Lets cover a few of the basics.
1) If you plan to deploy 1140 model access points. Then you should use that AP in autonomous mode so you dont have to be plugged into your network
2) The AP gets powered by an exteral power source like this battery for exmaple:
http://www.tessco.com/products/displayProductInfo.do?sku=345625&WT.mc_id=google_base&sp=true
3) As far as moving the AP around you can purchase a site survey pole like this:
http://www.tessco.com/products/displayProductInfo.do?sku=392506&eventPage=1
4) As for software, I like AirMagnet Surveyor
http://www.airmagnet.com/products/survey/
But again. There is a lot to know about doing surveys...

Configuring 1142 to use for site survey.

Just got in a bunch of the 1142 N-A-K9 APs. I need to set them up to do a site survey with.
Don't seem to be able to find anything on the site.
Has anyone used yet for site surveys? The radios are off by default.

You can survey with 1142. You can do two ways in lightweight mode. One would be to use it with 2106. This could be cumbersome as you have to carry around UPS so you can power the 2106 and use PoE on 2106 to power 1142. This way you can adjust channels and power levels on the AP as you see fit from cell to cell. Second method would be to configure the AP for HREAP mode on the controller and assign your custom power levels and channels. Then you can just use that AP without the controller to survey and power it up thru a PoE battery pack. The custom power levels stay on both 2.4 and 5 GHZ radios but channel only stays on 2.4GHz. Due to FCC and DFSS the 5GHz channel will most likely change each time you boot the AP. If you keep the AP on the battery pack for the duration of the survey it will stay on the same channels. So the negative to the HREAP mode survey is that you can't adjust channels and power levels as you move from cell to cell easily as you would have to connect it back up to the controller. Surveying with 1142 is helpful as from my experience they have a better footprint than 1131s. Hope this helps.

Site Survey Adapters - USB options?

Hello,
We are in need to perform a site survey with the Aironet 1041N Access Point.
Upon reviewing the site survey software, it seems you need to use an Aironet adapter.
However from what i can tell, all the Aironet adapters are PCMICA cards, which most modern laptops do not have, and the PCMICA cards that do exist don't have drivers for windows 7.
Are there USB adapters w/ Windows 7 drivers that can be used to perform a site survey?
Thank You.

I was going to use the Cisco Aironet site survey application.
the client doesn't have $1000+ to spend on site survey software.
this doesn't need to be overly complex but we're trying to get an estimate on AP placement and the # they'll need to get adequate coverage.
our plan was to go around with one access point to use as a baseline then determine how far away you can get before signal drops off too much, mark a building diagram with where access point should be placed, move the AP to that location to see how far away you can get before you should place another AP, etc.
thank you.

Site survey by Airmaget

Dear All,
I know site survey using Airmagent survey pro tool .Is it possible to do site survey with Aitmagnet wifi analyzer?
Regards,
TS

Nope because you won't be able to record, for example, at this location what are the wireless channel interferrence, the signal strength, SNR, etc.

AP1252 in dual radio mode with in-line power.

Hi,
Has anyone actually managed to deploy the AP1252s in dual radio mode and been able to power via a POE device?
The information regarding max power supplied is misleading.
For example, the 6500 802.3af POE line cards appear to only provide a max of 16.8W (from the 12.2.33SXH2 release notes).
The 4500E with the new enhanced POE line cards can apparently provide 20W with 12.2.44SG release.
The 3560E/3750E documentation is contradictory - early bulletins state support for Enh POE and then the more recent notes state that it is not supported.
Any real world experience of this issue would be greatly received.
Thanks

What you have here is correct. 6500 with a sup720 and 12.2.33shx2 will only provide max of 16.8W. The E-Series can provide the 20W max as long as you have the correct code.
Ethernet switch power options
â¢ Cisco PoE switches enhanced to support higher power requirement of 1250
â¢ Catalyst 3750-E / 3560-E
â¢24 port: 20 AP1250s
â¢48 port: 40 AP1250s
Cat3K 3750E: 12.2(44)SE ï§Supports 2 radio 11n mode
WS-C3750E-24PD-S
WS-C3750E-24PD-E
WS-C3750E-48PD-S
WS-C3750E-48PD-E
WS-C3750E-48PD-SF
WS-C3750E-48PD-EF
Jan 2008 ï§Switch power supply must be correctly sized for PoE load
WS C3750E 48PD 3560E:
WS-C3560E-24PD-S
WS-C3560E-24PD-E
WS-C3560E-48PD-S
WS-C3560E-48PD-E
WS-C3560E-48PD-SF
WS-C3560E-48PD-EF
Cat4K
4500E Linecards:
WS-X4648-RJ45V-E
WS-X4648-RJ45V+E
12.2(44)SG
Apr 08
ï§Supports 2 radio 11n mode
ï§No limitations on the number of AP1250s that can be used
with a card or chassis
ï§Chassis power supply must be correctly sized for PoE load
Cat6k
Linecards:
WS-X6148A-GE-45AF
WS-X6148-GE-45AF
WS-X6548-GE-45AF
12.2(33)SX
H2
March 31
ï§Supports 2 radio 11n mode
ï§Recommend 1:1 replacement of 802.11a/b/g to 802.11n
ï§No limitations on the number of AP1250s that can be used
ith d h i
Presentation_ID Â© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. 11
WS X6548 GE PoE daughter cards:
WS-F6K-48-AF=
WS-F6K-GE48-AF=
with a card or chassis
ï§Chassis power supply must be correctly sized for PoE load

Radio Management Assisted Site Survey Error

I get the following error when trying to do a Assisted Site Survey:
ERROR: Measurement request ACK timeout from WDS134.53.52.239/134.53.52.239
This device is managed in WLSE and is available by SNMP. Currently we have all access points including the WDS servers behind a Blue Socket gateway. We have allowed SNMP and port 2887. I suspect we may need to allow another port, however when the WLSE was sniffed during an attempt at the AP scan only 3 SNMP gets FROM the WDS were seen. Any help would be appreciated.

Here is the complet AP Radio Scan log:
INFO: Executing the AP Radio Scan
INFO: Max Tx Power 100mW
INFO: Number of devices selected to participate in AP Scanning: 4
INFO: Device HYTAPC110-1.muohio.edu has 1 Radio Interface(s) that can participate in AP Radio Scanning
INFO: Device HYTAPC114-1.muohio.edu has 1 Radio Interface(s) that can participate in AP Radio Scanning
INFO: Device Site_Survey.muohio.edu has 1 Radio Interface(s) that can participate in AP Radio Scanning
INFO: Device HYTAPC305-1.muohio.edu has 1 Radio Interface(s) that can participate in AP Radio Scanning
INFO: Delivering AP Scanning request to Radio Manager, number of Radio Interface(s) = 4
INFO: All interfaces temporarily configured to channel 6
INFO: Radio Scan measurement requests sent to all applicable interfaces
ERROR: Measurement request ACK timeout from WDS134.53.52.239/134.53.52.239
ERROR: Removing interface 00-40-96-45-f9-2e from AP Radio Scan participation
ERROR: Removing interface 00-0a-b7-4c-a5-1e from AP Radio Scan participation
ERROR: Removing interface 00-0c-85-57-3a-5a from AP Radio Scan participation
ERROR: Removing interface 00-40-96-46-28-2c from AP Radio Scan participation
ERROR: No APs are available to particpate - ending AP Scan.
INFO: Temporary channel and power settings disabled
INFO: Radio Scan measurements disabled, returning interfaces to original state
INFO: Radio Scan Complete!
INFO: Completed the execution of AP Scanning task.

Help with first time "controller based" Site Survey

We are moving from autonomous 1242AG to "2500 LAP with 2600 WLC"
I am used to bringing 1 autonomous AP to do my Site Surveys, but now that that I have a LAP, does it mean I need to bring a Wireless Controller with me so that the LAP could join it?
What do you guys do? Bring WLC, LAP and small UPS?
Any ideas would be helpful
Thanks!

Hi,
If you only have a LAP now then also you can convert to autonomous AP and do the site survey and then convert back to Lightweight.
You just need the 2 images.
One autonomous image:k9W7
http://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=284362264&flowid=34154&softwareid=284180979&release=15.2.4-JB4&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=ED&reltype=latest
One lightweight image: k9W8
http://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=284362264&flowid=34154&softwareid=280775090&release=15.2.4-JB4&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=ED&reltype=latest
Site survey is nothing to do with WLC(You can go ahead with Autonomous AP for site survey).
On the same place put the LAP and connect to nearest switch.
WLC push the config to LAP and also manages the RRM feature(Power, Channel....).
Regards
Dont forget to rate helpful posts

Site survey with dual radio AP

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