Migrating to CleanAir infrastructure without Interupting existing 802.11g network

[Wales007]

Hello,

I have a customer with whom we are replacing all their existing 1242G/4400 series network which uses version 6.0 code and replacing it with CleanAir APs (2600 APs/5508 WLCs) across multiple floors but they want to get it done without interupting their existing network  or without the clients noticing any diffence as their network run almost 24hours. 

the voice will now run on the 5GHz radio (using cisco 7925 wireless phones) rather the 2.4GHz radio for the old infrastructure.       

Is there a suggestion on how to implement this migration without the clients noticing any difference? Do i have to use the same VLAN as the old WLC as well?

Thanks.       

[Damon Garner]

Migrating in this fashion is pretty tough because as you add new APs you can cause more interference, co-channel and adjacent-channel.

You could deploy the 2600/5508 first with only the 5Ghz radios turned up so you can migrate the voice over. Making sure all of the controllers, new and old, are in the same mobility/rf group. Also setting the 7925 preferably to 802.11a only but depending on the deployment you may need auto-a, so the phones could drop back to 2.4 Ghz if necessary.  Doing 5Ghz first as there is plenty of channels to use.

To minimize client impact, you can manually disable the 2.4 radios on each AP seperately and then go section by section turning off the old and on the new.

Or have a few minutes downtime and switch them all off on the old wlc and on the new wlc.  Either way it will take some time for RRM to evenly distribute the channels and power settings for the new APs.

Good luck with the deployment.

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