We are seeing that many, if not most in some cases, students are using wireless exclusively in the dorms for laptops/PCs- the wired network is bocoming a place for Playstations, XBoxes, etc for many users. We have students show up that have grown up wirelessly- try to give them an Ethernet patch cable and they tell you that hey don't have a phone to plug in, especially not one that needs that big of a cord...
Is certainly a culture change to be monitored as you bring wireless to the dorms. Depending on what system you choose, the dynamic radio management/pico cell settings can certainly help tame a dense design. But also consider whether you'll ever need location-based services- if so, it's a whole different approach than just getting lots of wireless to a given area. Lee Lee Badman Network/Wireless Engineer Syracuse University 315 443-3003 >>> David Gillett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 3/28/2007 12:11:28 PM >>> > Dropping power would only help a > little, and at the expense of room penetration. Surely if your *floors* are only 10db, room penetration shouldn't be a problem, should it? I've stayed in hotels about this size that seemed to be adequately covered by an AP every couple of floors, alternately offset toward the ends.... Of course, usage volume is likely to be higher in a dorm, but if wired ports are also available then perhaps not beyond capacity. I haven't actually used them yet, but the places where I need density of coverage without reducing power, I'm looking at the Xirrus wi-fi array product as a likely solution. David Gillett > -----Original Message----- > From: Karl Reuss [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 6:53 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Highrise dorm RF design > > We're getting ready to expand our campus wireless > coverage into the dorms; full coverage for 12,000 students > over the next year. The recent dorm discussions here have > been very helpful. > > I'm wondering if anyone has experience with dense AP > deployments in traditional high-rise dorms. About half of > our students live in these monsters. 8 floors, 250' straight > hallway down the middle of each, rooms on either side, block > walls, 70 users per floor. Sort of like prison cells:) Our > field guys and residential facilities folks would rather not > put the APs in student rooms, which basically just leaves the > hallways. I'm worried about co-channel interference on the > b/g side. 6 or 7 APs down a hallway in clear sight of each > other will surely step on each other. Loss through the > floors only seems to be 10db, which means we need to watch > the vertical as well. Dropping power would only help a > little, and at the expense of room penetration. External > patch antennas are one idea were looking at. If anyone has > any experience or advice in this area they could share, I > would be grateful! > > Thanks, > -Karl Reuss > University of Maryland, College Park > > ********** > Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found at > http://www.educause.edu/groups/. > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
