Deploying WiFi in the Hospitality Industry including Hotels, Condos and Apartments
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Wi-Fi is changing the hospitality industry. It is shifting the way hotels run business and market themselves — and frequently it’s a key factor in how guests decide where to stay and whether they’ll come back.
Hotel Managers know they need to offer Wi-Fi to their customers, however they are also very cost conscience.
This creates a set of opportunities and challenges for the systems integrator doing the installation and ongoing support for these networks.
Many hotel operators first attempt to use consumer products such as Linksys, D-Link & Netgear Wi-Fi equipment. Quickly the hotel manager and system integrator realize that SOHO routers, which are designed to support 1-3 users with low powered radios (under 50mW), just don’t perform well in this type of environment.
Keenan Systems can now offer network systems integrators a high powered business class Wi-Fi solution. The EnGenius ECB-3220 is a 400mW access point, which also supports a repeating feature, fits the bill perfectly. The coverage is 3-times greater than consumer wireless routers and more powerful than the 100mW enterprise class access points from Cisco Systems. The unit is feature rich and includes SNMP for remote management and monitoring with Power Over Ethernet for flexible deployment. One of the best features is Universal Wireless Repeater which allows an access point to be located in an area where there is no Ethernet connection or network connectivity. There is also an outdoor version, EnGenius EOC-3220 EXT, which can extend the wireless network outdoors or be used to bridge remote buildings.
Environment is always a factor when discussing wireless connectively. The hotel’s construction, size and location are some contributing factors, which will determine the wireless coverage for each hotel. These factors determine how radio frequencies travel through and around obstacles which will vary for every hotel installation.
The first step of any successful installation is a site survey please click here for our WiFi site survey kit
Below are sample hotel configurations:
Concrete walls with metal rebar pose the biggest problems for WiFi coverage so positioning the access points in a central hallway is usually best. The EnGenius ECB-3220 can be mounted to a wall or position above drop ceilings with little signal loss by using the keyholes located on the bottom of the unit. The access points in the below diagram should be configured on non overlapping channels 1, 6 and 11. For the maximum coverage put the ecb-3220 in 802.11b only mode and select extreme power under advanced wireless. The access points’ SSID can be set to the same SSID to allow seamless roaming so users can walk from one area to another. Power Over Ethernet, which provides power and data to the access point, allow system integrators to conveniently install the access points anywhere in the hotel. Approximately 150ft of Ethernet cable can be ran from the PoE injector to the AP. The high-powered ESR-1220 router can be easily installed at the main office to provide Internet connectivity to the Intranet.
Click here for our indoor Hotel starter kit
In the example below we have a floor plan with open balconies and large windows. In this situation it is sometime easier to use outdoor access points like the EnGenius EOC-3220 EXT. Power over ethernet is used to supply power and data from the indoor wiring closet. The access point can be pole mounted in the courtyard outside the rooms again on non overlapping channels 1,6 and 11 and will cover 1-3 floors.
Click here for our outdoor Hotel starter kit
In the example below we have a apartment or condo WiFi example with remote buildings. It may be expensive to run ethernet between buildings in this case the WDS repeater mode can be used. The main access point at the office will have WDS enabled and the MAC address of the two remote access points configured. The remote access points will have WDS enabled and the MAC address of the office access point configured and be set to the same channel. The SSID of the remote buildings can be different or the same as the office. Back in the office a ESR-1220 router will be used to provide Internet connectivity.
Click here for our outdoor Hotel starter kit
In the last example we have a hotel with guest rooms, bar and a pool areas. The EnGenius ECB-3220 can be used in the indoor locations wired back to the ESR-1220 router in the office for Internet connectivity. In the outdoor areas the two EnGenius EOC-3220 EXT can be used in WDS repeater mode extending WiFi into the pool area without wires.
Click here for our INDOOR / outdoor Hotel starter kit
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