Q: Our wireless network includes several consumer-grade 802.11b access points. We’ve had problems with the network since Day 1 – the connection seems to drop randomly, and then comes back by itself. We don’t know what might be causing the interference, or even if interference is the problem. Is there a checklist of things we should go through? – Nasir, Los Angeles
A: Unfortunately, you are experiencing first-hand the difference between consumer-grade and enterprise-grade wireless products. The average access point purchased from a neighborhood electronics store is not designed for business use. It is typically based on the reference design from the 802.11 chipset vendor, with little additional development work. As a result, consumer-grade access points typically provide a minimum set of functionality and low reliability when compared to enterprise-class WLAN products.
Assuming you are committed to sticking with your existing consumer-grade access points, there are a few trouble-shooting steps and tools to identify problems in your network. First, look at the version of the driver and firmware on both your access point and 802.11 clients to make sure you are using the latest version from the vendors. It is not uncommon for a consumer-grade product to be several releases behind by the time the device makes it from the factory to the customer’s hands. If that does not solve your problem, you may want to try a different wireless client. While technically all clients adhere to the same 802.11 specification, some always perform better than others in specific situations.
If updating your software does not solve your problems, the next step is to gain visibility into your network. Get a good wireless sniffer to analyze what is going on in your air space. Go to Personal Telco’s Wireless Sniffer page for a list of free and commercially available sniffers that might help. Also, you may need a spectrum analyzer to look at the RF physical layer to determine whether there is detectable interference or noise. Several 802.11 vendors provide client utilities that provide this feature. You can also buy an off-the-shelf tool for this purpose.
If this seems like a lot of work, then you might want to switch to an enterprise-grade WLAN infrastructure. Most enterprise-grade products include interference detection and avoidance, rogue detection and containment, management tools for real-time monitoring and analysis of the network environment. If you are leveraging your WLAN for business operations, you should deploy a business-class wireless network.
