The Surveying - Pre-Info

Hi there,

These days, I'm spending almost all of my day at campus and therefore cant find time to keep the same day updates. apologies for that but here I am back with a bag full of updates and exciting stuff to share with you all.

I would like to begin with basic information about the tools that we are using for the survey.

So, it's called "Ekahau Site Survey" tool. and it's widely used globally and is first choice of the IT Administrators for dealing with the Wireless frequently.

As it eases their job and efforts in many ways and saves plenty of time to focus on more important things.

Earlier, Ekahau was, (and still is) a leader in providing Real-time Location systems with various patents on its name, mainly, currently deployed at 300+ hospitals, enabling them to utilize latest technology up to the maximum extents and helping the staff to monitor their patients more efficiently with real time monitoring and reducing the delay in case of emergency. Moreover, it also secures the expensive equipment  and makes sure that nothing leaves out of the sight of the Management. Using what ?? Just a simple concept of WiFi technology. It has saved millions of dollars due to the equipment being stolen or sometimes misplaced, but more importantly it saved hundreds of lives by letting the emergency staff know about the patient condition. Check the video below for more :

This technology is not only used in Hospitals but also in businesses and high schools.

Later on the company came up with another ground breaking tool "Ekahau Site Survey" which we discussed earlier. So basically what it does is it enables Administrator to Plan the position of Access points and the frequency and channels to be used based on various factors, some of them are discussed below:

DESIGNING 

• Building Maps

It allows Admin to import maps from various sources such as all type of picture formats, pdf files CAD drawings etcetera. so that the Admin can efficiently plan the position of access point based on the availability of wiring and security of the device. Also, you can define a hole in the floor ( multi floor Halls) to minimize resource usage.

• Capacity Requirements

It enables the Administrator to specify the main purpose (type of Application) of the Wireless service inside a building so that they do not have to make an resource wasting investment in purchasing unnecessary high performance APs and also lets user to define the number/type of device expected to be connected to the APs so that the network doesn't crash or start dropping the users or packets at peak usage time.

• Dealing with Barriers

Main wifi signal killing barriers are the walls, doors, book shelves, elevator shafts and other solid structures which may absorb the signal and black out the specific region of a building left with no coverage at all, to deal with this, Ekahau Wireless Survey helps the  planner to place the walls, and all similar heavy/solid objects which my act as barrier in coverage based on their absorption rate before planning the position of Access Points. It proved to be a very successful solution and boomed the ESS sales. Latest ESS v 8 also adds up automatic importing of walls and doors and building material from a CAD drawing and once again left its competitors miles behind.

• Variety of  Access Point Database

Ekahau Site Survey features a huge variety (covers almost all) Access Points available in market, leaving the customer to choose their own access point and defines the position of APs accordingly, with pre-set properties and features of each and every make and model.

Below is the complete webinar describing more features of the tool and how to do for learners who want to step in the Wireless Planning, Analysis or Surveying workforce someday and for people who are passionate about learning new things ( like me ;))

The company once again has several patents on its name and evolved its own technology to ease the Administrator's job as easy it could and is still working hard to bring more features such as capability of importing building structural components from multi-layer PDF files.

Comparison of Major Site Survey tools available in the market - Source: Wikipedia

This tool was the first tool to introduce the 802.11ac support and provides a free heat mapping tool to scan for the coverage heat maps for home and small office on its website (Ekahau HeatMapper download page). 

Over all the company and the staff's hard work is clearly in front of your eyes and is worth the price for an IT Administrator who's main job description is to plan the Wireless Network for a Building, Office or Campus. 

Coming up: discussion about the features available for the Surveyors and some 802.11 b/g/n and 802.11 a//n channel overlapping problems faced earlier by the Admins and how ESS eliminates it.

**You are welcome to comment, share your views and provide me further suggestions.

*** If you find anything that is incorrect or is wrongly presented, please feel free to comment.

Thank you

Design and Research - Wi-Fi Certification

Hello Readers,

I'm very thankful and happy for all my readers motivating me to keep my blog up and research further to collect valuable pieces of information and present them into one blog.

Today, I'm going to talk about Wi-Fi Certification. So, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ is an globally recognized approval for the products and devices that use Wi-Fi NICs, that they qualify all the industry standards, security and follows all protocols defined by IEEE with successful interoperatibility with other Wi-Fi powered devices.

International Telecommunication Union - Radiocommunication Sector or ITU-R
regulated the allocation of the RF spectrum and satellite orbits. On the other hand IEEE specifies how the Radio Frequencies are modulated to carry information.






Wi-Fi Alliance is an association of vendors whose objective is to improve the interoperatibility of IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standard.







Therefore in a nutshell, if any Wi-Fi device is to be launched in the market, it has to go through a number of tests, inspections and security checks before getting open for public use.

**You are welcome to comment, share your views and provide me further suggestions.

*** If you find anything that is incorrect or is wrongly presented, please feel free to comment.

Thank you

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Design and Research - Wireless Components

Hello Everyone,

Today I'm gonna discuss about distribution of bands and classification of frequencies used by various versions of standards of Wi-Fi.

To begin with, Bands refers to the intervals in the frequency domains to separate types of waves based on their nature and properties!

Source - Cisco Network Engineering 3 Chapter 4 Slide (Wireless Concepts)

 we are particularly looking at sub-domains of radio frequency domain. The above classification is very similar to the various subnets under one subnet in networking...

Above is the chart, that will help you visualize the facts I'm presenting:

Therefore, just taking Wi-Fi into account, it uses the frequency bamds allocated by International Telecommunication Union - Radiocommunication Sector (ITU - R) on Radio Frequency (RF) Spectrum. It typically uses UHF, SHF, and recently adopted EHF ( Microwave sub domains) for transmission of data signals. under the Radio Waves (main) domain.

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2.4GHz  under UHF (Ultra High Frequency)

This frequency is used by many other standards as well such as Bluetooth, Cellular Broadband, UHF Television, Microwave ovens, GPS Systems etcetera.

The main advantage of UHF transmission is the short wavelength that is produced by the high frequency. The size of transmission and reception antennas is related to the size of the radio wave. The UHF antenna is stubby and short. Smaller and less conspicuous antennas can be used with higher frequency bands.

The major disadvantage of UHF is its limited broadcast range, often called line-of-sight between the TV station's transmission antenna and customer's reception antenna, as opposed to VHF's longer broadcast range.

UHF is widely used in two-way radio systems and cordless telephones, whose transmission and reception antennas are closely spaced. Transmissions generated by two-way radios and cordless telephones do not travel far enough to interfere with local transmissions. Public safety, business communications and personal radio services such as GMRS, PMR446, and UHF CB are often found on UHF frequencies as well as IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs ("WiFi"). The widely adapted GSM and UMTS cellular networks use UHF cellular frequencies. A repeater propagates UHF signals when a distance greater than the line of sight is required. - Source : Wikipedia

Standard               Max Speed               Backward Compatibility

802.11                  2 Mb/s                      N/A

802.11b                11 Mb/s                    N/A

802.11g                54 Mb/s                    802.11b

But sooner or later, while advancements were being brought to the UHF utilization, we felt the need to move to more higher frequency to avoid the noise/interference caused by other applications using the same freq to minimize collisions. Therefore, SHF came into play.

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5GHz under SHF (Super High Frequency)

SHF frequencies occupy a "sweet spot" in the radio spectrum which is currently being exploited by many new radio services. They are the lowest frequency band where radio waves can be directed in narrow beams by conveniently sized antennas so they do not interfere with nearby transmitters on the same frequency, allowing frequency reuse. 

The size of SHF waves allow large reflections from metal objects the size of automobiles, aircraft, and ships, and other vehicles. Thus, the narrow beamwidths possible with high gain antennas and the low atmospheric attenuation as compared with higher frequencies make SHF the main frequencies used in radar. Attenuation and scattering by moisture in the atmosphere is a factor at the high end of the band. - Source : Wikipedia 

Standard               Max Speed               Backward Compatibility

802.11a                54 Mb/s                     N/A

802.11n                600 Mb/s                   802.11 a/b/g( can be mixed with 2.4GHz)

802.11ac               1300 Mb/s                 802.11 a/n 

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60 GHz under EHF (Extra High Frequency)

Note* Line of sight only 

Compared to lower bands, radio waves in this band have high atmosphericattenuation; they are absorbed by the gases in the atmosphere. Therefore, they have a short range and can only be used for terrestrial communication over about a kilometer. In particular, signals in the 57–64 GHz region are subject to a resonance of the oxygen molecule and are severely attenuated. Even over relatively short distances, rain fade is a serious problem, caused when absorption by rain reduces signal strength. In climates other than deserts absorption due to humidity also has an impact on propagation. While this absorption limits potential communications range, it also allows for smaller frequency reuse distances than lower frequencies. The short wavelength allows modest size antennas to have a small beam width, further increasing frequency reuse potential. - Source : Wikipedia

Standard               Max Speed               Backward Compatibility

802.11ad                7 Gb/s                       802.11 a/b/g/n/ac ( can me mixed with 2.4. 5 GHz)

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Wi-Fi IEEE Standards chart

 Note* Supporting a mixed environment limits the expected data rates.

Classification on basis of Frequencies

Above images source : Cisco Network Engineering 3 Chapter 4 Slide (Wireless Concepts)

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Tomorrow I will be discussing something about Wi-Fi certifications and a brief comparision of Wifi with LAN. Also we will be looking at how does a client associates and exchanges information with an Access Point.

That's all for today, thank you very much for reading.

**You are welcome to comment, share your views and provide me further suggestions.

*** If you find anything that is incorrect or is wrongly presented, please feel free to comment.

Thank you

Design and Research - General Wireless Properties

Hello all,

First of all I would like to apologize for not updating the blog for so long, but being honest, I was literally too busy in researching and studying the related information.
I have tried extracting much relevant information as I could to explain the concept to anyone from a scratch.

Starting with Wireless Technology

What is it ?
How does it influence our daily lives ?
What are the possibilities ?
How far have we come and how further can we get with it ?
.... and lot more

Well, Wireless Communication, in a simple language is anything that exchanges information without any physical medium of transport between them. For instance, cell phones, Bluetooth, TV remote and so on. If we look around, practically everything we see has turned wireless now.
Skipping directly to the technicality and nature of wireless, I would like to start with talking about some common wireless technology and their general properties

• Wireless Personal-Area Network (WPAN) 
• This type of network usually belongs to an individual or for group of people working in a small room.
• Enables exchange of data in small range.
• Example :Bluetooth -
• 
  



Graphical representation of Bluetooth applications and logo

• Follows IEEE 802.15 standard
• Signals can travel up to 100 m range.
• Speed up to 24Mbits/second.

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• Wireless LAN (WLAN)
• This type of network is suitable for an building, office, company or home for internet access and exchanging information, in fact this is the most common and reliable mode of internet access these days due to its mobility and excellent throughput. 
• Example: Wi-Fi ( Wireless Fidelity) - 
• 
  

  

  Wifi Logo

• Follows IEEE 802.11 standard
• Commonly ranges up to 300 m.
• Application : All devices for instance in a building are connected to the wireless Access Points and if someone wants to print a document from front reception to the printer located at 3rd floor, the front desk computer will send the information to the wireless access point which will then froward it to the central router and then router will look up for the destination printer and will send the document for printing to it.
• 
  

  

  Wireless Router and devices connected to it

• A special Wireless NIC (Network Interface Card) must be installed in the host devices to access the wireless network.

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• Wireless Wide-Area Network (WWAN)
• This type of network is generally used in cellular phones and pagers to access the mobile network (GSM/ LTE/ CDMA)
• Commonly ranges for few Kms.
• Uses Satellite and Radio Towers as mode of Network Access.
• Example: Worldwide  Interoperability for Mocrowave Access (WiMax) -

• Follows 802.16 standard
• It is WiFi on large scale to cover a wider area to provide network/ internet access to clients and uses special high range broadcasting Access Points(unidirectional and/or omnidirectional) for broadcasting.

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A graph representing the common difference between above described types of Wireless network is provided below for better understanding:

Thank you all for reading this, more updates are coming soon talking about Radio Frequencies, Standards, WiFi certification, and much more. =)

**You are welcome to comment, share your views and provide me further suggestions.

*** If you find anything that is incorrect or is wrongly presented, please feel free to comment.

Thank you