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My
Publications -
Tutorials
Evaluating
Readiness to Support Wireless LANs, Part I
By
Eric Geier
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Originally Published by Wi-Fi
Planet on February 16, 2007 -
Many companies
hire third party solution providers in order to deploy a wireless LAN
in their facility, even though internal staff may be extremely
knowledgeable in wired networks thanks to experience gained in
deploying and supporting their existing Ethernet network. Although a
solution provider may implement a precisely designed and installed
WLAN, you’ll likely run into complete chaos if you aren’t prepared
to support it. Proper training and familiarity for those who are going
to be tasked with supporting and ensuring the security of the new
Wi-Fi network is vital.
Earlier
tutorials such as the Planning
WLAN Operational Support series provide a quite extensive look
into support issues in the design of wireless LANs; however, this
series concentrates more on the evaluation of your current support
system to see how ready you are, and to determine what you may need to
do before deeming the new network operational.
When preparing
your support plan for your wireless LAN, consider areas such as:
This part of
the tutorial covers the first two bulleted items shown above; a later
tutorial will cover the remaining items.
Education and
Experience
Although your
current network or PC support staff may have a vast knowledge of
networking, wireless LANs introduce many other aspects and
fundamentals which people who have a traditional wired networking
background typically lack.
You should
poll your support teams to gain an understanding of their tech skills
and knowledge to ensure they are educated in areas such as:
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Introduction
to wireless LANs: Your
help desk, desktop support, and especially any network support
teams should have a basic understanding of the main components and
essential operation of a wireless LAN, as well as the ability to
compare and contrast the 802.11 standards, which provides some
common sense when dealing with wireless networks.
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Wireless
LAN administration and troubleshooting: The
knowledge of the individuals intended to administer and support
the wireless network should include (but not be limited to)
installing, configuring and securing client radios and access
points, knowledge of RF fundamentals and 802.11 network
architecture, performing RF site surveys, and understanding Wi-Fi
security issues.
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Wireless
LAN security: The
security or network support team should have an extensive
understanding of Wi-Fi security, including intrusion tools and
techniques, technologies such as 802.1X/EAP, VLAN-based security
solutions, 802.11i, and Authentication, Authorization and
Accounting (AAA) Systems.
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802.11
packet analysis: Understanding
how 802.11 devices communicate, such as the exchange of packets
during the authentication and association process, how a network
reacts to power-saving clients, and understanding the data within
the packets can greatly help when troubleshooting issues on the
wireless network.
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Vendor-specific
hardware training: Those
who are going to be installing and configuring the wireless
infrastructure equipment should have a great deal of prior
hands-on experience to ensure seamless support when your wireless
LAN is operational.
If more
training is required, you may want to take the opportunity to have
the support teams earn related certifications such as through the Certified
Wireless Network Professional (CWNP) and Cisco
Career Certification programs.
While
throwing a few books at the support teams may provide great
knowledge, many IT professionals need a bit more hands-on training
through live training courses. However, if live training is out of
your budget, you may want to look into e-learning or
computer-based training (CBT) courses, which typically provide
video lectures and demonstrations. You could also gather some
extra wireless networking gear for them to play around with to get
some hands-on experience before the network is operational.
Don’t
forget about all the resources you have online, such as the
insightful tutorials and articles here on Wi-Fi Planet.
Management
and Support Tools
Properly
supporting and troubleshooting wireless LANs typically requires adding
a few new tools to your arsenal. If you haven’t already acquired
them in the design and installation phases, you may want to consider
purchasing several tools before going operational:
Among other
things, this tool enables you to “see” what is actually happening
over the airwaves to aid in troubleshooting performance or
connectivity issues with your Wi-Fi network or devices.
Spectrum
analyzers give you a better picture of the RF environment to help
identify and find devices interfering with your Wireless LAN. Even
though other tools such as a packet analyzer may give you some of
these features, a spectrum analyzer will provide much more detail of
the RF environment.
Though usually
not a necessity, Wi-Fi surveying software provides a usefully graphic
representation of your wireless network coverage layered on a digital
floor plan you import. With the software’s simulation features,
these tools can aid in detecting coverage holes and may provide
predicted coverage maps when considering the movement of APs and the
changing of other characteristics, such as channel assignments,
transmit power and antenna type.
You may want
to look into the software suites and hardware tools of vendors such as
AirMagnet and Berkeley
Varitronics Systems. In addition, make sure the support staff has
a solid understanding of the tools you choose before making your
wireless LAN operational.
Stay tuned!
The next part of this series will cover the remaining items to
consider during your evaluation of supporting a Wi-Fi network.
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