Wi-Fi: Will it work in a manufacturing environment?

[kevotron]

I am trying to setup a wireless access point in a shop environment and want to know if this is a viable solution. It is a large manufacturing facility and the area in question is surrounded by a number of large Milling machines. It will be quite a process to run cable in this area and wondered if in using wireless, there would be too much interference from these machines. There are two premanufactured wooden office about 20 feet apart with no machines between them (but they are surrounded by machines)--the one is wired and connected to a switch--I had hoped to connect a wifi access point to that switch and then drop wifi Nic cards in the Pc's in the other office. Would this be feasable? Any suggestions? Perhaps a directional antenna?

 

[netmanrick]

I would suggest a RF spectrum audit.Any good wi-fi reseller
should be able to do it. Do the milling machines create a oil fog?(could cause rf problems).
You might want to consider AP's with external antenna connections for directional antennas.

Rick Harris
SC Dept of Motor Vehicles
Network Operations

 

[mrdenny]

I would definetly recommend a spectrum audit. That will tell you if the wireless signal can get through on that spectrum.

Depending on what they charge you do to the audit you may find it cheaper to simply purchase the wireless AP and cards and just give it a shot. With no machines between them you should be ok. I'd look into placing the AP on the outside of the office that is wired, with some high gain directional antennas (check with the wireless manf for more details about those) to improve performance in the event that someone parks a fork lift between the offices.

When mounting you'll want to make sure that the base station (and if possible the receivers) are above any traffic that might cars problems, cars, trucks, fork lifts.

Something you may want to look into instead of putting wireless nics in the pcs in that office, get a small network switch for that office, wire those machines together, get a wireless ap for the office that is on the network already and a wireless bridge for the office that isn't. You then plug the bridge into the switch in the disconnected office and they are all on the network over that wireless connecting. This gives you the benefit on placing both the AP and the bridge outside the buildings and above and obsticals.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

(My very old site)

 

[kevotron]

OK, it seems the way to go is to mount the AP on top of the one office and point it towards the other--there is nothing between these two buildings which are about 25 feet apart, they are just surrounded by machines and occasionally a Hi-Lo will drive buy. So I can get an wireless AP and point it towards the machines with wireless NICs, or I can get a wireless access point and mount on the one office and get a wireless bridge and mount it on the other and then a little cheapo switch to hard wire the other office and coonect it to the bridge which will be getting its signal from the AP. Is there any kind of antenna (directional?) that might facilitate a better signal? If so do I need one for both the bridge and the AP or would I just put it on the bridge?

 

[kevotron]

Ok here is a run down of what i will have, can anyone tell me if this looks good?

Server
|
Switch
|
|
|
|
Switch
|
|
Wireless Access Point-)))))))))-Wireless Bridge
|
/ \
PC PC




|
SOHO Switch
|
/ \
PC PC

 

[kevotron]

OOps--SCRATCH that last one--I had a bit of a computer hiccup while making it. It should look like this, tell me if this is a good setup?

Server
|
Switch
|
|
|
|
Switch
|
|
Wireless Access Point-)))))))))-Wireless Bridge
|
|
SOHO Switch
|
/ \
PC PC

Should I use a directional antenna between the AP and the bridge, would that help as far as any EMF? Can a stronger signal overcome EMF, or is it no matter how strong the signal EMF is gonna mess with it?

 

[kevotron]

one more thing--I dont why my diagram keeps losing its format, but the SOHO Switch and the PC's connected to it in the above diagram should be directly under the wireless bridge, not in the middle of the AP and bridge.

 

[LloydSev]

On thing to keep in mind and maybe think about..

walk into a Best Buy, and look at the ceiling.

Their wireless access points and repeaters are on the ceiling to avoid any kind of interference.

Just something to ponder with your setup.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA