Having 2 different Wireless LAN in same floor

[Jagadish2]

Hi,

Our client needs to have 2 different WLAN's in the same floor. Mean to say in the same floor, 2 different Organization employees are going to sit.

Floor heat map was done when the requirement was for only one organization and 15 AP's was needed.

But now the requirement is 2 different organization employees share the same floor without any floor partitioning.(We are using Meraki MR56 AP's.)

Please suggest best solution to implement 2 WLAN in same floor with AP's not overlapping.

Regards

Jagadish

[Kasun Bandara]

if you already done the heat map, make sure you counts new heads and balance APs for new density. then you can have 2 SSIDs using two sperate networks and block intercommunication between those two networks using ACLs.

[Jagadish2]

But here, we will not use same Access Points for both organizations. Each organization will use its AP's. So concerned about channel overlapping. We will have 2 different Wireless LAN's.

[ammahend]

Assuming it’s 2 separate network all together, Once deployed do a post deployment survey for the floor irrespective of organization and adjust channels on your side, additionally I would whitelist ssid in other organization WIPS setting to avoids any kind of unwanted wireless intrusion based block because of both org operating in same space. It’s very common in places like Singapore where small buildings are shared amount multiple companies, sometimes they have their own little wireless network setup. 

[Leo Laohoo]

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@Jagadish2 wrote:
Please suggest best solution to implement 2 WLAN in same floor with AP's not overlapping.

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Just want to clarify that the client wants to SSID and not 2 different WLAN network.  Is this correct?

[Jagadish2]

But here, we will not use same Access Points for both organizations. Each organization will use its AP's. So concerned about channel overlapping. We will have 2 different Wireless LAN network.

[JPavonM]

Obviously there would be some CCI as on any high density deployment so the options are 1) Tune Tx Power and maybe RX-SOP in Cisco (I think to remmebr there is no way to do so on Meraki MRs unles by request to support) or 2) Use patch antennas for 2nd organization to limit horizaontal propagation (and even maybe move 1st organization to also use APs+patch antennas.

[Scott Fella]

This is not a good design at all.  Two different networks in the same area will always cause CCI like what others have mentioned.  Can it work, sure, but not well.  It's like a mall, where the mall has their own wireless, and each store has their own wireless.  It still works, but don't expect the best experience.  I think since you will have one org in one side and the other org on the other, you might be able to get this working fine by just treating it like if you only had to turn up wireless for the new org coming in and the other org is managing their own.  This way you can at least focus on where you should place access points.  Now if the two orgs share the same floor and not split, then that will be a challenge.

[eglinsky2012]

We faced a similar dilemma a while back where we (a state university) occupied space in a public library. They removed their APs and we provide all the APs in the building, we broadcast our SSIDs and their SSIDs, and we use FlexConnect to bridge their SSIDs to their wired network via a trunk from our switch to theirs while still using central switching for our SSIDs. No CCI/rogue/tuning/etc issues. If our equipment fails, we're under additional pressure from them to get it back up, but it hasn't caused issues.

In your case, perhaps both organizations could kick in some funding to purchase the APs and the switch(es) they uplink to and save them both money in the process while ensuring a good WiFi connection. This is an unusual arrangement, though, so what others have said may be more helpful to you if sharing equipment isn't feasible.

[Scott Fella]

Have you posted your question on the Meraki forum.  You might be able to do something since you can add the ap's in the same location so they would know about each other.

[Arshad Safrulla]

Yes, RX-SOP is available in Meraki, just navigate to Radio profiles >> RF profiles >> Choose the existing RF profile or create a new one. According to my experience RX-SOP will perfectly only if you have an open environment, where there are walls and other obstacles this will create lot of issues. So, make sure that you fine tune this accordingly to the connecting client capabilities and site survey results. 

Don't use fat channels in 5Ghz, try to limit it to 20Mhz and design the network for 5Ghz. 2.4Ghz is more prone to CCI. 

Disable lower data rates.

Use proper antennas and importantly conduct a pre-deployment site survey and define Organization 1 can mount APs and where Organization 2 can mount APs. 

Do not enable Air Marshall at all.

Check with other organization whether they are willing to share the hardware, maybe you can offer wifi as a service.

[Wes Schochet]

One org on 5 GHz, the other on 2.4 GHz? It might work!!

[Arshad Safrulla]

Not recommended at all. This will bring lot of complications related to the client-side support and then the native issues relevant to 2.4 band itself. Rather I would have strong channel plan for 5GHz and might consider selectively turning off 2.4Ghz with client steering enabled. I might also consider having static channel assignments depending on the RF environment.

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

No solution is going to work. 

UNII-2e is already off-limits due to DFS. 

This leaves UNII-1, UNII-2 and UNII-3.  

Whatever quantity AP network 1 has it must be duplicated (so both parties can roam).  

12 channels cut in half (one channel per network) brings to 6.  

Cut 6 channels into two for 40 Mhz bonding.  

How much is left?  It is the same conundrum as 2.4 Ghz channel.  

I do not understand the logic behind this scenario but I would do it differently if we were given a better picture.

NOTE:  And I have not yet even started talking about if the channels are dirty like the picture below. 

[Leo Laohoo]

Network A operates in 2.4 Ghz exclusively. 
Network B operates in 5.0 Ghz.