WLAN Planning Wizard
specifications. It also gives you the number of APs, as estimated by Planner to suit your requirements of coverage.
Capacity Planning
If you have selected Capacity Planning in the previous step of the wizard, the WLAN Planning Wizard: Capacity Planning – Parameters screen appears. Capacity of an AP refers to the maximum achievable throughput of that AP. Several factors such as number of active users, type of applications, RF interference and so on affect the capacity of an AP. To provide enough bandwidth per user, you must plan a WLAN by considering these factors in addition to coverage.
Figure 75. WLAN Planning – Capacity Planning
Specify the parameters for Capacity Planning:
•Number of active users on the layout: The expected number of users simultaneously accessing the WLAN on the current floor.
•Typical expected throughput per user: Specify the bandwidth typically required per user. The total expected WLAN capacity is a product of the number of active users and bandwidth required per user. Click <Help Me> to view the typical per user throughput for various application types.
•Percentage uplink traffic: Specify the percentage flow of uplink traffic. Uplink traffic refers to the flow of traffic to an AP in a WLAN. The amount of uplink traffic indicates the conflict among users for medium access.
Note: A high percentage of uplink traffic with a large number of active users will degrade an AP’s bandwidth due to high contention.
•Provision for VoIP: Select to enable Planner to provide for VoIP. VoIP has a major impact on capacity planning and is determined by:
¾Voice codec type: Select the voice codec type from the drop‐down list.
¾Voice traffic: Specify the percentage voice traffic.
¾Number of voice calls per AP: Specify the maximum number of VoIP calls that an AP can simultaneously support.
The WLAN Planning Wizard: Capacity Planning – Advance Parameters screen appears.
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3Com ® AirProtect Planner User Guide