This step is a site survey to decide what you need to provide a good connection for all your computers. Some companies will do this for you for a fee.

The first thing to do when deciding the size of your wireless network is to decide how many computers you want to connect. Each laptop will need one PCMCIA card. There are two options for connecting desktop computers, the one port station adapter and the four port. If three to four computers are located near each other, the cost effective option is the four port station adapter. Although it only provides 3 Mbps aggregate, this is a good option because it only costs 150% of a one port. Because all of the computers will probably not be using the adapter most of the time, this is a decent solution. It still provides decent networking speeds. For two computers the four port adapter is still a good option, because of cost and scalability. If another computer or two were placed near the adapter, it could be plugged into the existing one, instead of requiring a new one to be bought. For one desktop a one port station adapter is the best option. If a computer will be constantly using the network, the one port is the best option, because it provides the full 3 Mbps for that computer.

• We want to connect four laptops and five desktops to our test network. We need four PC cards, one for each laptop. Four of our desktop machines are in the same room so we can use a four port station adapter to provide a connection for these machines. We decided this because they will be used mostly for browsing the WWW and other standard networking opperations. Our fifth desktop computer is in a different room, so we will be using a one port adapter for it.

The next thing to decide is the number of access points needed to cover the computers. The most important thing to cover is the desktop computers. The standard range of the hardware in open space is 500 ft at 3 Mbps, 1500 ft at 2 mbps, and 2500 ft at 1 Mbps. These ranges decrease inside of buildings due to the walls and other objects that interfer with the signal. To test the ranges you can get inside your building the demo equipment is very useful, because you can see what speed the equipment will be running at for the possitions in your building. You need enough access points to provide a connection to the network for each computer. One access point can cover computers with an aggregate throughput of 15 Mbps. If there are more than fifteen computers in the area of an access point, additional access points are recommended to keep nework traffic down. The additional access points could be placed in the same place or spread out to cover a larger area that still keeps the number of computers supported at the necessary level. The laptops should be considered next. Any area you want to use a laptop in, must be within range of an access point. Roaming must also be considered. For roaming to work the areas covered by access points must overlap. It should also be remembered that a laptop in the area of an access should not bring the number of computers using the access point above fifteen to keep traffic down.

• We Have two desktop adapters and four PCMCIA Adapters that we want to cover, so we need only one access point. However during our demo we found that one access point could not cover the building. To cover everything we need two access point so that the laptops can be used anywhere inside.

The next thing to consider is antenna upgrades. Breezecom provides many anteana choices to improve range. Antennas are useful if you want the signal to travel a long distance (ie. miles), or if you need a little more range between an access point and a station adapter and don't want to buy another access point. Antennas are not cheap but can be worth it in some situations. Click here to see ranges.

Each access point and station adapter uses two antennas. (PCMCIA card do not accept upgrade antennas.) This is because of a phenomenon called multipath propagation. It is the effect of a signal bouncing off a wall, water, or some other object and hitting the antenna, as well as the signal going strait between the two. (see diagram below.) This causes the signal to degrade. The use of two antennas limits the affects on the device because the stronger of the two signals is used. Inside it is recommended that two antennas be used, because of the greater chance of multipath propigation. Outside one antenna is standardly used because the chance for multipath propigation is lesser. However if the signal is being transmitted over a body of water, near a glass walled building, or other reflective object, two antennas are recommended to decrease the chance for a degrading signal.

• We decide to purchase four omni-6 and four omni-7.2 antennas. We would like to see the range increase with the use of upgraded antennas. We are purchasing four of each because we have four devices that accept upgrade antennas, and each of these requires two antennas, because our network is located inside.