Enterprise WiFi

The SOHO router shown earlier has a 95 page manual, and performs many security and configuration functions. This complexity is necessary and manageable in a small office or home with only one or a few access points. In an enterprise with perhaps thousands of users and access points, it is not manageable.

Enterprise networks often use thin access points in conjunction with intelligent WiFi switches. Thin access points contain little more than WiFi radios and antennae. The other functions are centralized in the switch.

The switch can automate access point configuration handles authentication of user identity, quality of service(QOS), roaming from one access point to another, and storing access point configuration information. This approach has several advantages for an enterprise:

Radio placement and configuration data are kept in a database so that access points can be configured automatically when they are installed or replaced.
Installation is simplified because the people stringing the cables can install thin access points at the same time while SOHO routers must often be specially mounted above the ceiling.
Authentication is centralized, making it easy to assign rights to a user regardless of which access point he or she happens to be near.
When a mobile user roams from one access point to another, the switch makes the change rapidly.
The switch implements QOS decisions, for example, giving higher priority to packets containing voice data than others.
VOIP and roaming require speed, and the QOS and authentication functions needed to support them can be implemented in hardware in the central switch.
While the central switch is expensive, its thin access points are cheaper.

An enterprise WiFi case study

San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland, California required a wireless network for VOIP and roaming throughout the hospital. The table on the right compares the costs (in thousands of dollars) they projected using both the enterprise and SOHO approaches:
Jan Snyder, the hospital CIO, projects that the thin client strategy will cost them $446,000 over the next five years as opposed to an estimated $848,000 using SOHO access points. He also estimates that the network will save the hospital $365,000 per year, so the cost of equipment and installation will be paid back in well under a year.
For more on the San Antonio Hospital network see this case study and the slides from a presentation by Jan Snyder.
Item SOHO AP Thin AP

Site survey 8 2

Cabling 53 53

AP deployment 37 2

AP configuration 15 1

Support 25 2

Subtotal 128 60

Equipment 180 149

Total 318 209

The following table compares overall cost for three typical configurations from four vendors of enterprise wireless LAN equipment:

The table was taken from this in-depth product review article.

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An enterprise WiFi case study San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland, California required a wireless network for VOIP and roaming throughout the hospital. The table on the right compares the costs (in thousands of dollars) they projected using both the enterprise and SOHO approaches: Jan Snyder, the hospital CIO, projects that the thin client strategy will cost them $446,000 over the next five years as opposed to an estimated $848,000 using SOHO access points. He also estimates that the network will save the hospital $365,000 per year, so the cost of equipment and installation will be paid back in well under a year. For more on the San Antonio Hospital network see this case study and the slides from a presentation by Jan Snyder.	Item	SOHO AP	Thin AP
	Site survey	8	2
	Cabling	53	53
	AP deployment	37	2
	AP configuration	15	1
	Support	25	2
	Subtotal	128	60
	Equipment	180	149
	Total	318	209