Warehouse deployment question

[ALIAOF_]

Anyone has experience deploying wireless in the warehouse environment specifically areas with pick modules (multilevel racks that people can climb into).

[Scott Fella]

Every environment is different... it really comes down to where they need coverage at that iwll determine how many AP's you will need to deploy.  The issue in warehouse is where you can mount the AP's and the height to which these AP's can be lowered from the ceiling.  We are doing a pick area now and the amount of AP's that they need to help provide coverage in areas, where users will scan is crazy.  The customer is willing to pay for the AP's and all the cabling due to the height of the product and the height of the ceiling.

[ALIAOF_]

That is right, rest of the warehouse is not that difficult it is the pick area that gets complicated.  Would you mind sharing how many AP's are you deploying in a pick area?  Are you doing like one on the ceiling and one on the 2nd level and then if there are lets say 20 aisles how many aisles are you skipping before you adding more? 

I have seen that design honestly but I do not like it and I don't believe it works the best.  I am more inclined towards using one on the ceiling and adding one on the 2nd level ceiling one on the ground level ceiling and kind of stager them that way.  Thoughts?

[Scott Fella]

It varies... if the AP's are at a height where procuct is only around 2'-3' below, you will need more AP's.  I have not ran into a warehouse that will allow AP's to be mounted lower if there are fork lift trucks.  We have a pick area that is 4 levels and we have then staggered to allow for coverage while the user may walk around the pick area or move to a different floor.

[ALIAOF_]

So I was kind of thinking something like this but this concept gives me over 600AP's just for that specific area lol

[luckymike33]

I work for a distribution company in the UK with a similar setup, the solution used here works well - use APs on the end walls at either end of the aisles - their height position is about half way up the height of the wall, they use a moderate gain antenna to allow signal to reach down the length of the aisle - this gives us 2 APs per aisle. But the coverage is good and very consistent. Their lower height position does not affect the lift trunk operation as they are mounted on the end walls themselves. HTH

[wanatkinson]

I am looking at a similar deployment coming up. luckymike, what antennas did you use, and how long and tall were the isles? I'm thinking directional patch will be the best way to go. 

[ALIAOF_]

Depending on your warehouse and if you are planning on using 2.4 or 5GHz.  Patch Antenna option is pretty good option.  Also you have to see what kind of racks do you have, are they single/double or quads.  How high, what is the ceiling height.  Patch antenna setup requires a bit more planning if you have Ekahau you can use the planning mode and see some cool results.  And then use some AP's with dipole antennas to cover the gaps.  Another trick is to drop the AP's 10 to 15 feet if you can. 

Been working out pretty well so far.

[Abhishek Abhishek]

You can find all of Cisco's design guides here: http://www.cisco.com/go/srnd

[gohussai]

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/enterprise/unified-communication-system/index.html

check the above link if the redirection fails on the Abhishek link.