User's Manual

IntroductiontoWLANPlanningandPlanner
3Com®AirProtectPlannerUserGuide
3
2.3 Planner:ACompleteWLANPlanningSolution
PlannermakesthetaskofWLANplanningsimple.Itseasy‐to‐useinterfaceprovidesrichvisibilityintosecurityexposure,RF
coverage,channelallocation,andavailablelinkspeedinWLANs.Thisensuressecurity,highreliability,andoptimal
configurationofWLANs.
Plannerprovidesthefollowing:
• AdvancedpredictionmodelforSensorandAP
placement
• DevicedatabasewithpresetoptionsforcommonAPmodels,Sensorsmodels.
• AbilitytoaddnewAPmodelsandantennae
• Buildingmaterialdatabase
• CrossFloorcoverage
• LiveAPcalibration
Onceyoumodelthelayoutofthefacility,youcanplaceAPs(RefertoAppendixD:
GlossaryofTerms)usingasimpledrag
anddropoperationtogenerateRFmapsandacomprehensivesetofdeliverablesasdescribedinthefollowingsection.
2.4 DeliverablesfromPlanner
• SiteModelforfutureRFplanning
• BillofMaterial(BoM)for3Com®AirProtectEnterpriseSensors(Sensors)
• BoMforAPsandantennae
¾ NumberandlocationofSensors
¾ Number,location,andconfigurationofAPs
¾ Antennatypesandlocation
• RFMaps
¾ SecurityView:Coverageinside
thePerimeter,CoveragebeyondthePerimeter,Redundancy
¾ AccessPoints:Coverage,Spillage,ChannelAllocation,Interference,andRedundancy
• Consolidatedplanningreport
¾ BoMforSensorsandAPs
¾ RFmapsforsecurity(Sensors)coverage
¾ RFmapsfornetwork(AP)coverage
¾ With/outCustomerInput
¾ WLANbasics
• Files
¾ .spm
¾ .prj(project)
¾ .zip(compressedprojectfilein.zipformat)
2.5 Planner:Benefits
PlannerprovidesvisibilityintotheWLANallowingthenetworkadministratorto:
• Eliminatesecurityrisksbyminimizingsignalspillagetoprotectthenetwork.
• PlanforsecurityusingSensorstomaximizedetectionandpreventionofthreats.
• ReducetheOperatingExpenditure(OPEX)byestimatingthenetworkperformanceandminimizingnetwork
problems
andon‐goingnetworkmaintenancethroughproperplanning.
• ReduceCapitalExpenditure(CAPEX)byinvestingonlyintherequiredequipmentsandeliminatingexpensivesite
surveys.
• Increasevisibilityforsecurityexposureanalysisandeffectivemaintenancebyunderstandingtheimpactof
upgrades.
• Satisfyuserneedsbyreducingnetworkdowntimeandmaximizingcoverage,networkcapacity,andthroughput.
• Provide‘What‐If’scenarioswhenthereisachangeinthelayoutorintheplacementoffurniture,oranyadditionor
deletionofWLANequipments.
• ‘What‐If’analysistomigrateto802.11ndevicesfromtheexistinglegacysystems.
• WLANPlanningWizard

¾ CapacityPlanning
¾ CoveragePlanning