A company having a wireless LAN should establish a reengineering function that
assesses needs for changes and defines corresponding solutions. Engineering
of course is a critical task when initially designing a WLAN, but it’s also
very important to have available on an ongoing basis. Engineering and maintenance
plays together in a way that lengthens the life of a WLAN.
The staff for engineering tasks may consist of "gurus" working directly
for the company, most likely within the IT group. Especially after having a
wireless LAN for a number of months or years, employees of the company can become
experts in understanding the applicable technical aspects. In most cases, however,
the engineering function will likely be an initial outsourcing venture.
When planning the operational support for a wireless LAN, ensure there’s an
engineering capability to perform the following tasks:
- Advanced problem resolution. Because of the nature of WLANs, difficult-to-solve
problems will likely arise. Users may have periodic loss of connectivity that
causes applications to malfunction, or interference
may inflict significant loss of throughput. In these cases, engineers may
be necessary to anlayze the problems and make recommendations on how to proceed
with a solution. - Coverage expansion. Companies occasionally expand the reach of the
WLAN to cover new areas. This generally requires engineering input to determine
the effective placement and channel
settings for access points. - Capacity increase. In the early days of the life of a WLAN, the number
of users is normally much lower than the total available capacity. As time
goes, however, the company will probably deploy additional applications that
increase the utilization of the WLAN. It’s important to have network monitoring
in place to watch throughput levels and engineer upgrades to the network when
needed in order to handle ongoing needs to support a greater number of users. - Firmware review. Within the maintenance function of operational support,
technicians may find it necessary to upgrade the firmware of access points.
Before making the upgrades, though, engineering should first test and evaluate
the new firmware. This certifies that the changes being made will not adversely
affect the network. - Technology upgrade. Continually monitor the evolution of WLAN technologies
and products to ensure effective migration in a manner that meets growing
network utilization. For example, the engineering function should proactively
review the potential upgrade from 802.11b
to 802.11a
or 802.11g.
A change in technology should only be done, though, after careful deliberation. - Design review. The engineering function should also be involved in
reviewing and verifying compliance of new designs with the common architectural
design of the WLAN. This avoids haphazard expansion of the network that might
have led to a network consisting of non-interoperable parts, such as the deployment
of 802.11a-only access points with some users just have 802.11b radio cards.
A design review involves examining requirements and making certain that the
requested changes fully satisfy requirements. In fact, it might be necessary
from time-to-time to reassess requirements as the company moves forward.
Stay tuned! In part IV of this series, we’ll take a look at establishing a
help desk for wireless LANs.
Jim Geier provides independent consulting
services to companies developing and deploying wireless network solutions.
He is the author of the book, Wireless LANs and offers training focusing on wireless
LANs.
