Obstacles Around Co-Located APs

Symptom

There are obstacles in the AP signal coverage area. The signal strength of STAs is weak, and Wi-Fi experience is poor.

Fault Location

APs are not properly deployed because no APs are deployed in line-of-sight (LoS) distance. Signals need to penetrate many obstacles, resulting in high signal attenuation. The following describes the scenarios:

• In an office scenario, signals of AP4030DNs need to penetrate two walls, causing severe signal attenuation and insufficient coverage.
• In a higher education scenario, settled APs are deployed in corridors to provide signal coverage for dormitories, but signal strength is insufficient after signals penetrate walls.
• In a higher education scenario, AP7050DEs are installed between two iron pipes.
• In a hotel, APs are placed on the ceiling instead of being ceiling-mounted. In addition, the back of the APs faces downwards, and signals are transmitted to the ceiling. As a result, the signals below the ceiling are weak.
• In a higher education scenario, APs are installed in a corner on the ground. The APs are too low, causing severe attenuation and insufficient coverage radius.

Solution

Adjust the AP installation positions to avoid obstacles as much as possible.

Adjust the AP power and deploy more APs.

Summary

Plan the network properly. You can set specific attenuation values for obstacles of different materials in the network planning tool to generate a coverage heat map and check the coverage effect. If possible, perform a site survey to check whether there are obstacles around the AP installation positions.

The following describes common AP deployment suggestions:

• To ensure signal quality, deploy one AP for every two rooms with brick walls or wooden partition walls and deploy one AP in each room with metal, double-layer soundproof glass, or concrete walls.
• It is recommended that APs be installed on the outer side of the ceiling. If the AP must be installed on the upper side of the ceiling, it can be installed only on the upper side of the plaster or plastic ceiling instead of the metal ceiling. Place an AP horizontally with its front panel facing downwards and avoid visible LoS obstacles.