Wireless Design with Cisco SMB AP´s

[Jorge Neyton Avila Pacheco]

Hi all,

We have a new design that we are doing in a House. We have 2 floors, in the main floor we have an Ethernet connection but in all the house customer doesn´t want to run cables, so we need to create a Wireless Bridge or Repeater´s design.

I was checking Cisco docs for SMB and I´ve not found anything about the following questions:

- How many bridges/repeaters can SMB AP´s support? (We need at least 4 SMB AP´s to cover all the house)

- What is the best practice recommendation in this scenarios in where we have only one Ethernet link?

- We need to cover all house for 25 users and have roaming between them. (Cluster configuration with SMB suport this functionality? or only WLC?)

Please share me your comments.

Thanks!

N.A.

[Eric Moyers]

Hello Jorge, thank you for the great question.

- How many bridges/repeaters can SMB AP´s support? (We need at least 4 SMB AP´s to cover all the house)

Answer: Our Small Business WAP's can handle 4 bridges each. Each bridge must be to a unique access point. In other words from one access point there cant be two bridges to the same access point. Repeating With repeating or Bridging each hop will cut your transmission throughput in half. So I would not advise going more than 2 hops, 3 at most.

- What is the best practice recommendation in this scenarios in where we have only one Ethernet link? Use One access point as the main and create bridges from that one to the other Access Points. That way you only have one Hop. If distance is a factor, consider running one line to that part of the house. Aslast resort you could do one more hop. 

- We need to cover all house for 25 users and have roaming between them. (Cluster configuration with SMB suport this functionality? or only WLC?)

Small Business access points do not suppor true seamless roaming. There will be a small drop when a wireless client moves from one AP to another one. For true seamless roaming you would need Enterprise WLC and Enterprise APs. Our APs will not work with Enterprise WLCs.

Hope this helps, please let me know if there are any other questions or I can expond on anything I have said.

Eric Moyers
.:|:.:|:. CISCO | Cisco Presales Technical Support | Wireless Subject Matter Expert

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[Jorge Neyton Avila Pacheco]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your quick replay.

So, just to confirm:

1. I can install one WAP connected to Ethernet LAN and 4 more as bridges? or, I only can have 1 connected in the ethernet LAN and 3 more?

2.- It´s possible to configure Cluster feature (8 maximum supported in SMB AP´s)?

3.- It will be supported 2.4/5Ghz SSID´s? 

4.- How many antennas I´m going to have in each AP when I create the full topology?

Thanks!

Jorge Neyton

[Eric Moyers]

1. I can install one WAP connected to Ethernet LAN and 4 more as bridges?

Yes 1 AP and then 4 additional connected with bridge.

2.- It´s possible to configure Cluster feature (8 maximum supported in SMB AP´s)?

That actually depends on the model of AP that you get. 

WAP321- 8 per cluster

Data sheet link: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/wap321-wireless-n-selectable-band-access-point-single-point-setup/c78-697406_data_sheet.html

WAP351- 8 per cluster 

Data sheet link: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/small-business-300-series-wireless-access-points/datasheet-c78-733625.html

WAP371- 8 per cluster Data sheet link: 

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/small-business-300-series-wireless-access-points/datasheet-c78-732143.html

WAP551- 16 per cluster Data sheet link: 

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/wireless/wap551-wireless-n-single-radio-selectable-band-access-point/index.html

WAP561- 16 per cluster Data sheet link: 

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/wireless/wap561-wireless-n-dual-radio-selectable-band-access-point/index.html

3.- It will be supported 2.4/5Ghz SSID´s?

Yes Cluster is supported in both 2.4 and 5 GHz. However it is only one per radio.

4.- How many antennas I´m going to have in each AP when I create the full topology?

Again depends on the Access Point:

WAP321 - 4  antennas I believe

WAP351 - 8 antennas 4 per radio I believe

WAP371 -  8 antennas 4 per radio I believe

WAP551 - 5 antennas

WAP561 - 10 antennas 5 per radio

Eric Moyers
.:|:.:|:. CISCO | Cisco Presales Technical Support | Wireless Subject Matter Expert

[Jorge Neyton Avila Pacheco]

Dear Eric,

I really appreciate your inputs. I only have the last questions:

1.- In case I bould a Topology with WAP561´s considering the first scenario (1 Wired, 3 Bridges). Which will be the maximum throughput for wireless clients?

2.- Considering question # 1, I´m going to be able to connect 2.4 & 5Ghz customers?

3.- How many radios do I need to pass traffic between Root Bridge and others? (I.E.: I have Root bridge connected to Wired network. I´m going to use 1 radio or antenna to pass traffic to 2nd bridge in 1st floor. The 2nd bridge is going to pass traffic to 3rd Bridge in second floor. 3rd Bridge is going to pass traffic to 4th Bridge in second floor.

Total: 3 bridges and 1 Root. (2 in the 1st Floor - 2 in the 2nd Floor)

Thanks Sir!

Jorge Neyton

[Eric Moyers]

1.- In case I bould a Topology with WAP561´s considering the first scenario (1 Wired, 3 Bridges). Which will be the maximum throughput for wireless clients?

To be able to say, I would need to know a little more about your network. Waht router and switch if the Access point will be connected to that. As a general rule, you could look at it like this: If if your through put from Router or Switch to Root WAP is 100 Mbs then the through put from Root WAP to WAP1 would (give or take) be 50 Mbs. If you bridge from WAP1 to WAP2,then it would be half again 25 Mbs and so on. 

2.- Considering question # 1, I´m going to be able to connect 2.4 & 5Ghz customers?

Using WAP561 you can still do only 4 bridges but you can select 2.4 or 5 GHz.

Here is a link to the GUI for the WAP561.

https://www.cisco.com/assets/sol/sb/WAP561_Emulators/WAP561_Emulator_v1-2-0-2/main.html

Go to Wireless - WDS Bridge

There  you can see the 4 possible bridges and how you can select if using 2.4 or 5 GHz.

3.- How many radios do I need to pass traffic between Root Bridge and others? (I.E.: I have Root bridge connected to Wired network. I´m going to use 1 radio or antenna to pass traffic to 2nd bridge in 1st floor. The 2nd bridge is going to pass traffic to 3rd Bridge in second floor. 3rd Bridge is going to pass traffic to 4th Bridge in second floor.

I have attached a diagram of my suggestions. How far is the fartherest AP? Going through how many floors? 

Total: 3 bridges and 1 Root. (2 in the 1st Floor - 2 in the 2nd Floor)

[Jorge Neyton Avila Pacheco]

Excellent Eric! Thank you for your excellent assistance.

Best regards.

Neyton