Conference Wi-Fi

This Week In Wireless

• Rowell recorded a video on Wi-Fi 6 on David Bombal’s YouTube channel
  • Long version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZMA4p00c9g
  • Short version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r62vs2uyQjM
• Huawei
  • Huawei is temporarily pushed out of the Wi-Fi Alliance
  • Wi-Fi Alliance is fully complying with the recent U.S. Department of Commerce order without revoking Huawei Technologies membership. Wi-Fi Alliance has temporarily restricted Huawei Technologies participation in Wi-Fi Alliance activities covered by the order.
  • https://www.androidauthority.com/huawei-wi-fi-bluetooth-990610/
• SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Internet Satellites Into Orbit
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/science/spacex-launch.html
  • “The Starlink satellites will orbit much lower — between 210 and 710 miles above the surface. That reduces the lagginess, or latency. SpaceX has said performance should be comparable to ground-based cable and optical fiber networks that carry most internet traffic today. Starlink would provide high-speed internet to parts of the world that currently are largely cut off from the modern digital world.”
• CWNP new certification: Solution Administration
  • https://www.cwnp.com/certifications/cwsa
  • Certification on non-802.11 technologies (BLE, Cellular, Zigbee, wired-side technologies, location services, APIs, Project Management)
  • First class will be in September 2019
  • In the future, additional certifications will address key areas in greater depth, such as automation/integration, IoT, private 5G, etc.
• Wi-Fi Images
  • Instagram @cleartosend
  • https://www.instagram.com/cleartosend/
• iBwave webinar
  • How to Design Wi-Fi for Higher Education
  • https://www.cleartosend.net/designing-wifi-networks-higher-education/

Conference Wi-Fi

Challenges

• Very Dynamic environment!
• Very High Density of devices
• There are a lot of ad hoc requests throughout the event
• ROGUES
• Very intense, long hours, little sleep

Prep Work – A lot of it!

• Understand the type of event
  • Understand what type of people will be attending
  • Understand which application will be used over the Wi-Fi. Any critical ones?
• Understand the layout of the conference
  • Where will the stages be
  • Where will the VIP zone be
  • Where will the media zone be
  • Where will the TV broadcaster zone be
  • Where will the registration zone be
• Understand the flow of people
• Prepare the LAN
  • Size it properly so it can handle the number of devices expected (2.5 devices per person)
  • Make sure the basics are covered
    • DHCP
    • DNS
    • Firewall
    • Core network
    • PoE budget
  • Prepare alternative plans just in case something goes wrong with the basics
    • What do I do if the internet goes down? Maybe plan for a backup internet link
    • What do I do if my DHCP server goes down?
    • What do I do if my DNS server goes down?
    • What do I do if run out of PoE power?
  • Make sure that you have enough internet bandwidth
• Prepare the Wi-Fi
  • Understand the limitation of AP placement
  • Leverage the APs installed under the ceiling
  • Understand where to place temporary access points if required
    • Do you have access to cables from the floor
  • Plan to have APs ready to go and being deployed fast
  • Size your controller properly
  • Forget 2.4GHz, plan for 5GHz. Expect to see a lot of 802.11ac devices (and a few 802.11n devices)
  • Stage as much equipment ahead of time as possible
  • Organize the APs, name them properly and keep track of them in a document
  • Tweak the RF on the under ceiling APs as much as you can.
• Configuration of the Wi-Fi
  • Public Wi-Fi
    • Keep it as simple as possible
    • If possible, no Captive Portal
  • Private Wi-Fi
    • Understand if you need to configure QoS
  • Create AP groups and RF Profile to be as flexible as possible
  • Use all the channels you can (even DFS, 165)
  • Place the temporary APs as close to the clients as possible
    • Use the people and floor element to content the signal and limit the CCI and optimize your channel re-use
  • Do you use DCA or static?
  • Study the use of more specific features (Probe Suppression, AirTime fairness…)

During the Event

• Monitoring
• Adjust the RF settings based on where the people are
  • Registration
  • Stages
  • Busy Areas
  • Lunch Areas
• Handle Requests
  • Setup new SSIDs
  • Add coverage in specific areas
• Battle the ROGUES
  • Make sure people turn their ROGUE APs off
  • Find solutions to answer their needs (using the existing infra or alternative solutions)

Tools

• Ekahau with a sidekick
• Airchecks
• Wi-Fi scanners (Explorer Pro)
• Screens 🙂
• Your favourite terminal application. My new favourite: iTerm2
• Your favourite network diagnosis tools. My new favourite: Mtr

Ideas to help us supporting such events

• Can some of the configuration and monitoring be automated?
• Create your own monitoring dashboards
• Create your own scripts to automate some tasks
• Create a simple application to process the AP tracking

Links

• Removing Captive Portals by Kristian Roberts: http://beaconsandwich.co.uk/2019/05/18/set-your-portal-free/

Photos