Best Deployment Scenario - Small Area, High Density

[TonyB143]

Large Grade School Gymnasium wanting to support up to 100 users for basic web use such as GSuite.

Which scenarios will be usable, which is best (AP units wall mounted no higher than 20 feet and caged for protection)?

Scenario A   4 - MR33 AP each using a different channel and different SSID.

Scenario B   1 - MR53 AP

Scenario C   2 - MR53 AP each using a different channel and different SSID.

My esitmation is A will work but will not be optimal due to crowding, B will be acceptable with normal use and C will handle just about anything 100 clients can throw at it. Am I off base? Is there a better choice?

[NolanHerring]

'Technically' a single radio running 80MHz should be able to handle 100 clients doing basic web traffic. However, I would recommend 2 access points minimum. Assuming your also going to use 2.4GHz radio, maybe band-steering enabled or something?

You can use this capacity planner if you want, since you would most likely be able to fill out the requirements more accurately than I could as I'm unsure of the device types being used.

http://www.revolutionwifi.net/capacity-planner/

Not sure what a large gymnasium means but if it is 'large' then maybe 4 access points might be easier, one per quadrant/corner if you will. Will also help with any future growth, give people some more spectrum etc.

You can use 80MHz on 5GHz if you wanted to, minimum I would recommend is 40MHz, to help you maximize client airtime. Just make sure no two access points are using the same frequency. So if your using 4 AP's, you'll want to disable one of the 2.4GHz radios on one.

Do not use a different SSID, only use one SSID to keep things simple/smooth. Just make sure you control the power output, make sure they are on different channels. Enable the load-balancing so that Meraki cant help divide the clients between the access points, since its an open auditorium a client will probably connect to an AP and could go anywhere in that space without a reason to let go most likely.

A 'better' choice would be RF design wise, using directional antenna aimed straight down, low EIRP, thats the best way to keep clients connected to the 'right' AP, so help split them up accordingly etc. But thats extra cost overhead etc.

[PhilipDAth]

Lets examine it using some maths.

>Scenario A   4 - MR33 AP each using a different channel and different SSID.

An MR33 has two radios, so this would yield a total of 8 radios.  That is 12.5 users per radio.

>Scenario B   1 - MR53 AP

An MR53 has 4 radios.  So that would be 25 people per radio.

>Scenario C   2 - MR53 AP each using a different channel and different SSID.

This would be a total of 8 radios, 12.5 users per radio.  The same as "Scenario A".

So for me, the choice is beteen 'A' and 'B'.  Note I would not create an SSID per AP.  Create SSID's as neded for the purpose (such as  students, guest, etc).  Stick to a maximum of 4 SSIDs.  After you go over 4 about 30% of the airtime is spent just announcing all the SSIDs.

If you had the switch ports and could easily do the cabling - I would go with 'Scenario A'.  If there were limitations on the number of APs that could be installed (for example, because of cable run lengths) then I would could with "Scenario C".

Personally, I would go for 3 or 4 MR53's.  I prefer a lower ratio of users to radios.

[NolanHerring]

"After you go over 4 about 30% of the airtime is spent just announcing all the SSIDs"

Friends don't let friends drive with DSSS rates enabled 😃