Requirements and Site Data in a Wi-Fi Project
A floor plan is the starting point for desk-based design; wall materials, ceiling height, user movement and interference must be verified on site. The number of APs cannot be set reliably until coverage, capacity and roaming targets are written as separate acceptance criteria.
Wireless design starts with the floor plan, building materials, target areas, user/device density, application needs and existing RF measurements. A ‘signal everywhere’ target does not describe capacity or roaming needs.
AP Placement, Channel and Capacity Plan
The placement plan should show each AP's service area, expected client load and relationship to neighboring cells. Channel and power settings should be treated as a starting design that can be updated after post-installation measurement.
Predictive design is validated against RF conditions on site. AP placement, channel width, the channel/power plan, client capacity and roaming requirements are handled together; simply adding more APs is not a solution.
Wired Infrastructure, PoE and Identity
A wireless design is not complete until switch ports and the PoE budget are verified. The number of SSIDs, the authentication method and VLAN mapping should not be left apart from the RF plan, and the end-to-end user flow should be included in acceptance testing.
Switch ports, uplinks, cabling category and the PoE budget must support the AP model and capacity. Corporate, guest and IoT SSIDs are mapped to authentication, VLANs and access policy.
Wi-Fi design and acceptance checklist
The table below summarizes the key design and validation points of a wireless project, from site input to RF and access acceptance:
| Control Area | Expected Output |
|---|---|
| Site input | Floor plan, materials and RF measurement |
| Capacity | Client density and application needs |
| Infrastructure | Cabling, switches, uplinks and PoE |
| Acceptance | Coverage, SNR, channels, roaming and access |