Successfully planning, designing, and implementing Wi-Fi coverage in a large warehouse environment can be daunting without the skills and knowledge needed to perform the work.
Wireless in warehouse environments can be extremely challenging when trying to ensure every corner of a 700,000 sq. ft. warehouse has a signal of at least -67 dBm with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 25 dB or above.
It's important to keep the following in mind during the wireless implementation stage, after you have completed the wireless design stage:
KEY IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Cable runs: Assuming network equipment is in place in the MDF/IDFs, run cabling from each AP to the nearest MDF/IDF, making sure the total run, including patch cables, does not exceed the 100 m (328 ft) Ethernet limit.
2. Validate and certify cable runs: Have techs use cable certification testers to certify each run end-to-end, from the MDF/IDF to the AP. If there are any patch cables in between, certify them too. Good wireless depends on good cabling, so before validating your wireless, validate your cabling.
3. AP and antenna placement: Work with techs to ensure APs are installed per your design. Too often, techs take it upon themselves to move APs to positions they feel would provide better coverage, or change an AP location due to install challenges. Have the techs check in with you before making any changes to your design.
4. Patch in, power up, and aim antennas: Install APs per the design, patch them in, and power them up. If external antennas are being installed, confirm the antenna angle and position according to the defined azimuth (horizontal direction) and elevation (downtilt). If the AP is at the end of an aisle, the antenna may be positioned at a specific downward angle to cover the length of the aisle. If it's in the aisle, the antenna may face straight down, creating a cone of coverage within that area.
5. Are APs coming online? Check your physical controller, virtual on-premises controller, or cloud controller to ensure APs are checking in and coming online. Depending on the vendor platform of choice, APs may use different methods to discover and join a management platform, such as a controller, before coming online and servicing client devices. Ensure the correct configurations are in place and APs are coming online successfully. Failure to do so will result in lost time troubleshooting network connectivity failures.
6. Device connectivity: Once APs are online, are your devices associating to the configured SSIDs with the correct security parameters? Are devices able to seamlessly roam between APs? Are there any connectivity or latency issues?
7. Automation: Use automation to onboard and configure APs. When dealing with a large AP count, configuring each one individually can be time-consuming. Depending on the vendor platform, use APIs or approved DevOps methods to configure network and AP parameters. Work that can take hours manually can take minutes when automated, freeing you up to focus on other important tasks.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There are many steps at play in the implementation phase, and each one needs special attention for a successful install. Failures can occur at any of these steps along the way, and those failures lead to project delays that result in budget increases.