Solved: info about the AIR-AP1042 device

OuttaCyTE · ‎11-29-2011

I'm looking for a couple of pieces of info on the AIR-AP1042 access point.

I need a mesh setup for a small multiple story hotel.

No too complicated or far reaching. Mostly wood frame construction.

I haven't been able to get a gander at pictures from all angles. In particular, does it have and come with a power adapter option? If it's only POE, why the heck would I want mesh product as I can run ethernet all the way back to the main switch anyway.

The other thing I can't seem to find is a radiated signal pattern diagram. Yes, it says omnidirectional, but really, none are completly spherical and what radius?

Does anybody have any info on these two questions? Thanks!

-greg

Nicolas Darchis · ‎11-30-2011

"Is there a "tool" of some sort for indoor planning?"

As mentioned in my last message => WCS has a planning mode. There might also be free tools out there but the quality of the "guess" depends on the software quality as well :-)

"What range would this give me assuming no obstructions?"

1) As no on uses those indoor APs in a place where there is no obstruction, it's kind of hard to answer this question :-)

2) What's the point of the question since anyway you will have obstruction in your environment ??

What most site surveyers do is that they buy 1 to 3 APs in advance and do measurements on site to see approximately the coverage so they can do their first calculations and design a budget for the complete order.

If the building is not built yet, you can simply try the APs in a building you believe will have a close layout to what the final building will be.

Numbers you will read on the internet are not reliable at all. Buildings are not built with the same materials or technique depending on the country and even then it varies so much from a building to another.

View solution in original post

Scott Fella · ‎11-29-2011

You can always purchase an AC power adapter to power up the AP. As far as the true antenna pattern, you can only get that from a site survey. Every location would produce a different pattern due to attenuation or reflection. Coverage also depends in the transmit power setting on the AP. You would dial that in depending on your client devices.

Sent from my iPhone

-Scott
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Leo Laohoo · ‎11-29-2011

There are three ways to power up the WAP: PoE, Power Injector or power adapter.

I recommend the first two.

Range will depend on your structure. You want to make it accurate? Get a wireless site survey done.

muzecisco · ‎11-30-2011

Anybody with a Howto manual for configurinh this AP as a standalone. Most that i am getting require controller

Nicolas Darchis · ‎11-30-2011

Configuration guide :

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/access_point/12.4_10b_JA/configuration/guide/scg12410b.html

OuttaCyTE · ‎11-30-2011

Thanks to all of you.

I can't do a site survey yet because the building isn't built. I need to get a good idea of how many devices I'll need and approximately where they will go. Thus the radiation pattern is important. If it's round but sort of flat (like a skittle) then I can lay them out one way. If it's mostly spherical, but has a depressed area then I can accomodate that in the planning. I am going to have good overlap in case one goes out, the others can cover the spot thus the mesh.

So, the diagram of the radiation pattern and it's radius would still be very helpful. I can get this on an inexpensive trendnet, surely Cisco can provide the same thing. I understand that the actual need may be different, but for initial costing for the client I have to layout something instead of a Wild-Assed-Guess.

-greg

Nicolas Darchis · ‎11-30-2011

Radiation pattern :

https://supportforums.cisco.com/thread/342300

WCS also has a planning mode where you can lay APs on the map and it will show you the approximate planned coverage area

1040 has a similar pattern to 1140, so that's why the link I pasted talks about 1140

Scott Fella · ‎11-30-2011

Greg,

Anything but a good survey is a best guest. I run into projects where they need to run conduit and don't have time for a site survey. Well... We call this a paper survey and we don't guarantee the coverage. The more experience one has with surveys, they can be pretty close to what is expected. I have used the planner and have seen installs with other vendors 'planners' and it's 50/50. The issue is not just walls and doors, but furniture, shelving units and the use of tiles. It's basically a good guess. Your chances are better if you have another building with almost the same layout where you can sample the RF coverage. Antenna pattern from one client to the next using the same AP varies.

I understand where your coming from because I'm in that position most the time, but the chances of adding, moving or removing AP's after the fact is there.

Sent from my iPhone

-Scott
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OuttaCyTE · ‎11-30-2011

@Nicolas - Thank you. That document has the 1040 series stuff in it and gave me the pattern layout I was looking for.

Next piece is how far apart do I put these. Is there a "tool" of some sort for indoor planning? This is going into a hotel which means lots of rooms (wood and sheetrock interior construction). I found one for outdoor on another device, but I didn't see one for indoor.

At the highest setting the 1040 series puts out 20 dBm (100 mW) of power. What range would this give me assuming no obstructions? That would be the radius of the horizontal coverage area.

Nicolas Darchis · ‎11-30-2011

"Is there a "tool" of some sort for indoor planning?"

As mentioned in my last message => WCS has a planning mode. There might also be free tools out there but the quality of the "guess" depends on the software quality as well :-)

"What range would this give me assuming no obstructions?"

1) As no on uses those indoor APs in a place where there is no obstruction, it's kind of hard to answer this question :-)

2) What's the point of the question since anyway you will have obstruction in your environment ??

What most site surveyers do is that they buy 1 to 3 APs in advance and do measurements on site to see approximately the coverage so they can do their first calculations and design a budget for the complete order.

If the building is not built yet, you can simply try the APs in a building you believe will have a close layout to what the final building will be.

Numbers you will read on the internet are not reliable at all. Buildings are not built with the same materials or technique depending on the country and even then it varies so much from a building to another.

OuttaCyTE · ‎11-30-2011

Nicholas,

Thank you for your kind and helpful responses.

The answer was to get a general range estimate as I have no idea at all the range of one of these things.

Which I would then degrade for obstructions.

From Wiki I find "A typical wireless router using 802.11b or 802.11g with a stock antenna might have a range of 32 m (120 ft) indoors and 95 m (300 ft) outdoors". From 300 feet to 120 feet is a 60% reduction. If I apply that same reduction to the range of one of these at 100mW then I get a idea of internal distance. This isn't good enough to purchase everything, but it does let the customer know he would need around x devices, maybe more maybe less. That won't be known until we actually measure one with signal strength meters.

Thanks for your help!

-g

Nicolas Darchis · ‎11-30-2011

My impression is that an AP every 20 meters is a good average to have some overlap.

Gerard Roy · ‎12-15-2011

Does anyone know what dbm or mw each of the power local settings are? I see on a 1042 from -1 thru 20 and am assuming 20dBm is 100mW. Anyone know the others?

OM-ess-lab-WLAN1(config-if)#power local ?
<-1 - 20> One of: -1 2 5 8 11 14 17 20
maximum Set power to allowed maximum

Nicolas Darchis · ‎12-15-2011

every time you remove 3dbm, you divide the mw by 2.

20dbm=100mw

17dbm=50mw

14dbm=25mw

11dbm=12.5mw

and so on ...