Ideal height for mounting Cisco outdoor Wireless Access Point?

[Muhammed Adnan]

Hello Experts,

I have a huge site where in over 90 AIR-CAP1552E-M-K9 aps are to be installed.

However going throught the Cisco docs, it is not clear as to what is the recommended height.

Below are the experts from Cisco doc, which I find quite confusing like

Excerpt from doc:Generally, the higher an antenna is above the ground, the better it performs. A practice is to install your antenna about 5 to 10 ft (1.5 to 3 m) above the roof line and away from all power lines and obstructions.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/antenna/installation/guide/ant2547vn.pdf

Is the recommended height of 1.5 to meters is taken with ground as reference or roofline as reference? I believe it is with reference to ground as reference but the sentence from doc is not  that straight forward.

Excerpt from doc: The access points can be installed at any height, but best throughput is achieved when all the access points are mounted at the same height. We recommend installing the access points no higher than 40 feet to allow support for wireless clients on the ground.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/access_point/1550/installation/guide/1550hig.pdf

The above statement still does not clear as to what ideally is a recommended height.

My site comprises of few poles & buildings. I am considering a height of over 3.5 meters above the ground level, but want to make sure if this is the ideal recommendation.

Best Regards,

Muhammed Adnan 

[Sandeep Choudhary]

Hi Adnan,

All installations will vary with environment. So its always good to do to the pre- and post-installation site survey, measured to your desired data rates, is always the best advice to determine AP coverage. That will tell you the height where to install.
Cisco recommend installing the access points no higher than 40 feet (12.2 meters) to allow support for wireless clients on the ground in the immediate vicinity of the access point.

Regards

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[Muhammed Adnan]

Hi Sandeep,

Thanks for the prompt response. Agreed with your recommendation that nothing could substitute the actual site survey. 

But in my part of the world, in mega projects, designs are to be finalised prior to the actual building structures being coming into existence and networking being  a small component has to be incorporated in other supporting systems as well. Hence pre & post installation survey are not an option for me but finalizing the design is :)

I am looking out for some rule of thumb or some used case scenarios. There are certain locations wherein I am provisioned to mount an AP at 7.5meters height above the ground level on the walls of buildings. As this height is quite high, I am not pretty sure what impact it would have on coverage area. Appreciate if you could please help throw some light  on same.

In short what is the ideal height for 1552 WAP with AIR-ANT2547V-N antennas? 7.5meters above ground level would do without having any compromises?

Best Regards,

[Sandeep Choudhary]

Hi Adnan,

As per my experiences, Yes it will work with 7.5m Height.

Regards

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[Muhammed Adnan]

Hi Sandeep,

Thanks again for prompt response.

I am as well very much sure that it would work even at 12 meter height :) 

My question is what is the ideal recommended practice of height at which the AP is to be mounted at wall. How is the coverage pattern influenced as the height keeps increasing, say beyond 3.5 meters upwards.

I am not sure why that we don't have any relevant information in these regards :)

[mohanak]

The access points can be installed at any height, but best throughput is achieved when all the access points are mounted at the same height. We recommend installing the access points no higher than 40 feet to allow support for wireless clients on the ground.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/access_point/1530/installation/guide/1530hig/1530_ch2.html#51599