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trpreacher
New Contributor

FAP 433/431 placement

Hi.  Please be gentle - just a preacher here.  We are updating our school church wifi and have FAP433s and 431s.  I need to mount one or other on a wall in the church sanctuary about 8 feet high cause it is the only space available.  I know nothing about the antenna'd 433's - how to point them or such.  Am I best going with one of them, though unsightly, to best cover the space rather than a down pointing 431.  Thanks for any guidance anyone can offer.

2 Solutions
ede_pfau
Esteemed Contributor III

Cool that you try new ways. With a little bit of background info this setup will work nicely for you.

APs send out radiation in concentric rings around the antenna's long axis. Most often, from 'far' away (far compared to the wavelength, which is millimeters) this looks like a sphere around the antenna. So, pointing the antenna will not have much of an influence regarding the radiation pattern. What you can expect on the other hand is that _behind_ the AP (the faceplate) there will be comparatively low field strength, if only for the dampening of the wall/ceiling/metal housing of the AP itself.

As a rule of thumb, one AP can be sufficient for an area of around 300 square meters (~ 1000 sq ft) if there are no obstacles, like walls, columns etc. The FortiAPs you mention are quite powerful, and I would not mount them too close to each other to avoid interference.

 

As for the placement, as a first approximation you can handle WiFi radiation like light. For fine tuning, depending on the OS version on your FGT, the WiFi monitor will help you finding the optimal mounting spots, as it shows the field strength the client 'sees' when connected.


Ede

"Kernel panic: Aiee, killing interrupt handler!"

View solution in original post

Ede"Kernel panic: Aiee, killing interrupt handler!"
Doddsy
Staff
Staff

Hey!

it’s a great question for sure. So as you will know, the 433F comes with external antennas. They come supplied with omnidirectional dipole antennas. These are great for providing a omni-directional coverage pattern. This isn’t your only option though; there are various different antenna options we have in the portfolio. You may want to look at a more directional antenna.

one of the most common issues I see in the field is the use of low gain omni-directional APs/Antennas mounted at bigger heights. This usually requires you to increase transmit power, this increases coverage but also increases the noise floor as what ever it can see; it can also hear.

 

I hope this helps, if you require anything more, I’d be happy to help you.

 

Ryan

Wireless Engineer - EMEA

CWNA, NSE4, ECSE-Design

Wireless Engineer - EMEA

View solution in original post

3 REPLIES 3
ede_pfau
Esteemed Contributor III

Cool that you try new ways. With a little bit of background info this setup will work nicely for you.

APs send out radiation in concentric rings around the antenna's long axis. Most often, from 'far' away (far compared to the wavelength, which is millimeters) this looks like a sphere around the antenna. So, pointing the antenna will not have much of an influence regarding the radiation pattern. What you can expect on the other hand is that _behind_ the AP (the faceplate) there will be comparatively low field strength, if only for the dampening of the wall/ceiling/metal housing of the AP itself.

As a rule of thumb, one AP can be sufficient for an area of around 300 square meters (~ 1000 sq ft) if there are no obstacles, like walls, columns etc. The FortiAPs you mention are quite powerful, and I would not mount them too close to each other to avoid interference.

 

As for the placement, as a first approximation you can handle WiFi radiation like light. For fine tuning, depending on the OS version on your FGT, the WiFi monitor will help you finding the optimal mounting spots, as it shows the field strength the client 'sees' when connected.


Ede

"Kernel panic: Aiee, killing interrupt handler!"
Ede"Kernel panic: Aiee, killing interrupt handler!"
Doddsy
Staff
Staff

Hey!

it’s a great question for sure. So as you will know, the 433F comes with external antennas. They come supplied with omnidirectional dipole antennas. These are great for providing a omni-directional coverage pattern. This isn’t your only option though; there are various different antenna options we have in the portfolio. You may want to look at a more directional antenna.

one of the most common issues I see in the field is the use of low gain omni-directional APs/Antennas mounted at bigger heights. This usually requires you to increase transmit power, this increases coverage but also increases the noise floor as what ever it can see; it can also hear.

 

I hope this helps, if you require anything more, I’d be happy to help you.

 

Ryan

Wireless Engineer - EMEA

CWNA, NSE4, ECSE-Design

Wireless Engineer - EMEA
dayaneterrace
New Contributor

It's cool that you came here. I want to install WiFi from another provider at our church firstchurchlove.com. So the information I found in the replays on your topic will greatly help the guys at our church and me. We have many parishioners who are involved in different types of activities, from construction to programming. Of course, I could have one of the guys who knows how to fix electronics set it all up. But first, I wanted to find useful information in case I could install WiFi in the church building myself. God will be proud of me because I figured out how to do it. I'll ask one of the brothers if I can't do it.

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