The Best Practices for Wireless Sccess Point Placement

A wireless access point is the building block of an entire wireless network, so it is important that you choose the placement of each access point carefully. A lot of installers treat wireless networks like Ethernet, and thus place the Wi-Fi access point in such a way that it endangers network security by allowing outside access to the network. However, in terms of network security, the wireless LAN must be set up like the Internet, which means that it must be able to distinguish trusted and outside users. Let's take a look at some wireless access point positioning and network topology recommendations for better and safer access point deployment:

Wi-Fi access point positioning

The position of the access point is very important in achieving maximum network coverage and strength. For example, access points that have omni antennas (which come as a default in most APs) cover a theoretically circular area, but the radio waves can easily be blocked by certain RF obstacles such as walls. As a result, such access points are placed centrally, and each access point is separated so that each of them is deployed in a cell.

This kind of an approach is quite simple, but it may not be efficient enough to provide maximum security, performance and ROI. The actual coverage area of such access points is not circular in most cases, and there may be gaps in network, which would require you to buy even more access points than what was needed in the first place. This is where directional antennas and site modeling comes into the picture.

Site modeling helps in finding the location of network users, their density in each of these locations, and the throughput required to satisfy the needs of these users in each location. The building material characteristics are also taken into consideration, along with Wi-Fi access point capabilities. Therefore, complete site modeling helps to correctly predict where the access points can be placed and verify the results of access point placement. While network planning may cost a bit more, it often pays in the long run, especially when you are deploying a large wireless network.

Directional antennas can also help in improving network performance. These antennas can be placed instead of the default omni antennas. The advantage of a directional antenna is that it focuses the radio waves transmission and reception onto a smaller area, which improves inner network coverage and also avoids signal leakage outside company perimeters. A directional antenna is especially helpful when you have certain locations where user density is greater than others.

Wireless access point segmentation

Physical placement of the wireless access point helps stop intruders to some extent, but it is not enough to keep the network secure. It is important that you prevent your network from getting tangled with other neighboring networks. The presence of outside devices in these networks can be dangerous for your network too if everything is mixed. Thankfully, the physical or logical segregation of access points can help solve this dilemma. Design an incoming and outgoing data policy that is in line with your business objectives, and configure each Wi-Fi access point accordingly to run a safe wireless network.

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