Networking Advice Needed

[HFultzjr]

I have a potential customer with WiFi coverage issues.

This is the layout:
Basement (offices) total about 400 sq. ft.
1st Floor (offices) total about 600 sq. ft.
2nd Floor (offices) total about 600 sq. ft.

They now have a TP-Link Archer C7 1750 located on 1st Floor
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Arche...811060&sr=8-3&keywords=wireless+router+archer
Very poor coverage in basement, due to construction of building
Very good coverage 1st Floor
Ok coverage 2nd Floor

They would like 1 seamless WiFi to be accessible on all 3 floors.
Currently offices are wired with access to add Cat5 runs.
Problem is with WiFi only. All wired points work fine.

I would like to use existing router (WiFi turned off) and run cat5e to 3 access points (1 on each floor) like these:
Ubiquiti Network Unifi AP Enterprise WiFi UAP-3
http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Netw..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1BAJA1F8RQADAD6N8Y4H

Setting each point to same SSID, but with different channels, (1,6,11) Would this allow "seamless" transfer one to the other?

WiFi needs are minimal, 2 laptops, 3 phones, moved between all three floors.

Not being much of a "networking" kind of guy, does this look like it would be as easy as it seems, or am I missing something?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Ubiquiti calls their "seamless" roaming.."Zero Handoff".
You need the APs on the same channel when you enable that feature.

https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/articles/205144590-UniFi-What-is-Zero-Handoff-

But first...let's discuss "true seamless roaming".
Unless you have wireless clients that actually support it well...it's not a feature I'd sweat out. Most wireless clients do truly do it well.

Doing the regular standard setup of same SSID, but vary the channels...yes..1, 6, 11...without enabling zero handoff...still results in pretty much an unnoticable change of APs by the clients. Someone walking from the first floor to the third floor with their laptop will not notice it. Someone on an IP phone call with a mobile phone would see a brief interruption.

 

[coffee]

WIfi Roaming right? Sure its possible. They will have to be on the same channel and subset.
Here is a good link to start https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/articles/205144590-UniFi-What-is-Zero-Handoff-

 

[coffee]

http://www.skirsch.com/products/ubiquiti.htm

Found the above also

 

[HFultzjr]

Ubiquiti calls their "seamless" roaming.."Zero Handoff".
You need the APs on the same channel when you enable that feature.

https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/articles/205144590-UniFi-What-is-Zero-Handoff-

But first...let's discuss "true seamless roaming".
Unless you have wireless clients that actually support it well...it's not a feature I'd sweat out. Most wireless clients do truly do it well.

Doing the regular standard setup of same SSID, but vary the channels...yes..1, 6, 11...without enabling zero handoff...still results in pretty much an unnoticable change of APs by the clients. Someone walking from the first floor to the third floor with their laptop will not notice it. Someone on an IP phone call with a mobile phone would see a brief interruption.

Got it.
Thanks for the clarification on zero handoff.
I don't think it is necessary, as the scenario of someone walking from 1st to 3rd is exactly what happens.
Any other issues you can think of?

Thanks
Harold

 

[HFultzjr]

http://www.skirsch.com/products/ubiquiti.htm

Found the above also

Thanks Coffee!
Some more good reading.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

No other issues I can think of.
The above link of that skirsch site is outdated, that's the "old" version of controller software. The new version is much different, and the ZH function was supposed to be quite improved. But I don't use the ZH function...the controllers natively handle "nearly ZH" quite well.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

When placing the APs on the 3 floors...don't place them "vertically stacked"....you'll get too much interference because they're right on top of each other. The second floor will be too "noisy". might not even need that 2nd floor. But if you do...turn down the transmit power. Picture a big bubble around each AP. You don't want too much overlap of the bubbles. My house is technically 3 floors when I factor in the "man cave" bar/basement, where my network setup is, including the AP. I get great signal up on the top floor.

 

[HFultzjr]

When placing the APs on the 3 floors...don't place them "vertically stacked"....you'll get too much interference because they're right on top of each other. The second floor will be too "noisy". might not even need that 2nd floor. But if you do...turn down the transmit power. Picture a big bubble around each AP. You don't want too much overlap of the bubbles. My house is technically 3 floors when I factor in the "man cave" bar/basement, where my network setup is, including the AP. I get great signal up on the top floor.

I was wondering about maybe just 2. Bottom level and top level. I'll probably get the 3 pack just to be safe.

Something like this:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ * 3rd Floor ^^^^^^^^^

^^^^^^^^ * 1st Floor ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ * Basement^^^^^^^

One other thing. They are "Java" free on all the desktops. I'm presuming I'll need Java on at least one machine that is wired to the router.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

One other thing. They are "Java" free on all the desktops. I'm presuming I'll need Java on at least one machine that is wired to the router.

If you want the controller installed locally on the LAN....yes it runs on Java.
You don't need a local installed controller, you can set the APs to be controlled by a cloud based controller that you host yourself (see many posts about that here)....as many of us that do this for a living want a cloud based controller to manage all of our clients WLANs. (easier MSP stuff). Or Ubiquiti recently released their cloud key product...allowing a proxy from the LAN to the cloud based central portal that they host.

 

[Frick]

You can get a Unifi Cloud Key for the local controller. Distribution for them is currently low, but Ubiquity's retail store has them. For $80 it would solve any issues and concerns about the controller