Is repossitioning APs warrented or should we expand

Looking for some advice … our initial deployment was designed with the intent to add two additional APs when our Marina expanded but wondering if our current design is flawed

Several years back we deployed 3 cnPilot e500s to cover an outdoor area 3/4 over water (marina) total area of 450’ x 850’ … the Base (A) is connected via ePMP eForce in a triangle … our East (B) is 410’ from A and our West (C) is 380’ from A … B and C are separated by 200’

My interpretation of the cnPilot omni antenna spec is that it should have a max radius of 700’ … the positioning of these APs is such that the max distance to any border is a max of 450’ … so basically all 3 antenna profiles overlap considerably

A recent review of Client connections has raised some questions: Specifically, we have several Foscam Cameras (same model and firmware) deployed out in the marina and the majority of them seem to connect to just one AP

There had been discussion of turning on Mesh mode but were initially discouraged due to reduced bandwidth … as such, we deployed with one SSID for all 3 APs

  • cameras mounted directly on the same Pole as an AP are connected to their opposite AP 200’ away
  • some cameras surrounding APs B and C are also connecting to AP A at twice the distance from the camera
  • extents of this entire area are sadly getting around 10Mb connections
  1. could Mesh mode improve any of the above issues

  2. could moving APs B and C to the full extent of this area improve coverage … increasing the separation of B to C to 400’ and increasing A to B of 750’ and A to C of 825’

  3. would a better profile be to deploy all AP’s in a straight line with A to B at 400’ and then B to C at another 400’ ( this should eliminate the 3 AP’s sharing/overlapping coverage)

The majority of issues with any deployment in this environment is Interference from;

  • Water
  • Sailboat Rigging and Masts
  • Powerboat Motors/hardware

Is it possible that the major overlap of the 3 antennas is also resulting in unneeded interference?

Hi,
Answering your queries.

  1. NO it wont.
  2. Before that please ensure you are not hampering other wlan coverage. If only cameras are consider then separation is good idea.
  3. You can use command show wireless neighbor to check ap nearby device with their signal strength. This command output will give RF insight.

Please email AP tech dumps to look upon on sanjay.jadhav@cambiumnetworks.com

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