10. Mismanaging your frequency
Not coordinating your wireless frequencies is like establishing a flat address space on your IP network and letting users pick their own addresses. There will be conflicts, with APs on the same channel interfering with one another like users grabbing for the same IP address.
When wireless LANs are tactically deployed, like in conference rooms, the frequency problem isn't immediately apparent. But as you add more APs, co-channel interference increases, gradually diminishing the overall system performance and slowing access to a crawl. The problem is acute with 2.4-GHz 802.11b and 802.11g systems, where the limitation of three nonoverlapping channels makes it difficult to avoid interference even with the best design.
Experienced vendors and resellers that understand this problem build in the proper physical-layer design up front. And some newer APs dynamically adjust access point channels and power output in response to interference and other factors. But they usually can't adjust the power and channel of client wireless devices.
Dave Molta is a senior technology editor of Network Computing. He is also an assistant professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University and director of the Center for Emerging Network Technologies. Write to him at [email protected].
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