Wireless Device On an Elevator

[Kwick18]

I have been given the job to provide wireless signal on all elevators. Has anyone used the traveling cable for the elevator car to get connectivity into the car? I have also thought about installing devices in the shaft itself. I can either install at the top of the shaft and shooting signal down or getting antennas on every 3rd floor.
If anyone has used the traveling cable, did you see any problems with the device?
Thanks

 

[robertjo24]

When you say "wireless", are you talking cellular phone or Wireless LAN?
Either way, I would think the easiest way would be to place a directional antenna at the top of the shaft, pointing down to the car, and place a small patch or stub antenna on the roof of the car, (to ensure penatration).

 

[Kwick18]

Sorry...This is for a LAN environment.
I am not sure what you mean by a "small patch or stub antenna". Does this Stub or Patch antenna require connectivity or does it just relay the signal?
Thanks

 

[robertjo24]

I would place an access point at the top of the shaft, with a high gain directional antenna pointing down, then try a wireless enabled device (laptop, PDA, etc) in the elevator cab to see what kind of connectivity you can expect. If you cannot get a reliable connection inside the cab at all floor levels, (due to sheilding from the cab structure), you can install a WLAN repeater (range extender) in the cab, placing the donor antenna on the roof of the cab pointing up.
I would try a temporary access point in the shaft first to see what kind of penatration you get.
If you get good signal penetration with the cab about halfway up the shaft, but cannot cover the lower floors, you could place access points at the top and bottom of the shaft, and the user would roam between the two.

A patch antenna is basically a flat antenna about 4" square, that would attach to an acccess point/repeater in the cab. The "stub" antenna I was referring to is a small, unity gain or 3dB gain omnidirectional antenna that can be permanantly mounted to the cab's exterior/roof.

 

[DTSMAN]

This is a fairly inexpensive directional atenna booster.

http://www.cantenna.com/

Bo

Kentucky phone support-
"Mash the Kentrol key and hit scape."

 

[ISDNman]

Kwick18

What an odd request. Anyway, there is such a thing as a passive repeater that I believe is what thhe are talking about. Basically it is 2 antennas wire together. If the WAP has sufficinet range to cover the shaft itself, but the problem is that the elevator car is sheilding the signal, this approach would work well. You could even use a direction antenna (a la Pringles can, see cantenna above) on the top of the car and a small omnidirection antenna in the car.

Best of luck.

 

[Kwick18]

ISDNman

Why is this an odd request? I have to figure out if it is better to install APs in the cars or in the shafts. Have you come across better solutions? I am open to all ideas
thanks

 

[ISDNman]

It is an odd request that the silly exces can't be out if IP range for the duration of an elevator ride!

What a waste of your time and budget.

Do not try running wire to the car - that will be a headach and could have all kinds of liability concerns.

The passive repeater (e.g. high gain antenna on the outside adn an omni antenna on the inside) on the car with a a WAP at the top of the shaft is your best bet

Best of luck to you!

 

[dhnl]

How about using a VDSL type device over the elevator phone wiring? That will provide a good ten megabits to feed an AP mounted directly in the elevator.

 

[AdmanOK]

Using the telephone wiring is a good idea... I would look into something like a Cisco LRE device (

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps4916/index.html).

They're fairly inexpensive and run over any two conductors... even barbed wire as shown in the executive demonstration video that was on Cisco's website at one point in time... might still be there, I didn't look tonight.

 

[daronwilson]

It is an odd request that the silly exces can't be out if IP range for the duration of an elevator ride!

That might be a bit nearsighted. There are very nice VoIP cordless phones made by Zyxel that we have used, nice connectivity to a WAP and mobility. I would think being able to maintain a phone call in the office while still moving between floors is not particularly 'odd'. Also at many industrial locations we run plant operations on pen tablets allowing the staff to completely run the plant as well as graphically see the status while connected via wireless cards and access points. I guess i can think of several applications where this would be valuable.

The HPNA or VDSL option over the existing phone cable sounds like the easiest to me. My experience with elevator phones is that you don't have much room in the car for ancillary equipment, and, it quite likely may need to be powered over the phone cable (i.e. PoE type of setup).

In Oregon, the elevator inspector is the closest thing to a God that the government has. In a former life in the fire service, i thought we had complete control as fire marshalls for allowing building occupancy. However, the entire facility can be closed or not granted occupancy if the elevator inspector is not 100% satisfied with the entire installation. Anyway, i'd make sure whatever your plans are for access points if they involve the elevator shaft or car that you confirm that it is ok with the AHJ for the elevator operation.

Sounds like a fun project, good luck.



Daron J. Wilson, RCDD
Solving 'Real World' problems