Wireless Connection to Vantage

Yahoo Archive
1
Thanks guys - I really appreciate all of the info. And Charles - don't
apologize - I wanted to find out as much as possible.
I don't know where else I could have gone to get the "straight up" answers.
Thanks again!
Julie

----- Original Message -----
From: "Todd Hofert" <todd@...>
To: <vantage@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 9:52 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Wireless Connection to Vantage


> I recently implemented wireless networks in three of our facilities. I
> purchased a Cisco Aironet 1231 Access Point and configured it with WEP
> enabled and had users connecting to it within an hour of taking it out
> of the box. Very easy to configure. Cisco recommended a site survey but
> I decided not to get one. I placed the unit in a logical place and once
> it was configured I tested the range of it and was satisfied with 90+%
> coverage of the facility(80,000 sq ft.) Once I was satisfied with the
> usability of the equipment I purchased a few more to install in our
> other plants. They cost me $600 each. Charles' advice is very good. Do
> not broadcast your SSID, use the 128bit encryption and always change
> default passwords. I have used Vantage both with a local client and
> through terminal services and both work just as well as a wired desktop.
>
> Todd Hofert
> IT Director
> Spartan Graphics, Inc.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Julie Lehmann [mailto:jlehmann@...]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 10:04 AM
> To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Vantage] Wireless Connection to Vantage
>
> Hi group:
> We would like to add a couple of wireless units for our forklift
> operators to use to locate inventory and make move transactions in
> Vantage. Could I get some feedback on what all is involved in setting
> up wireless access points - and how costly to do? Do you have to have
> someone in to do a site survey in order to determine where to put them,
> or how can I tell how good the coverage will be? Does anyone have
> recommendations on either the type of access points and/or the actual
> wireless units that work well for this type of application? (I
> apologize if this has been discussed before.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any guidance!
>
> Julie Lehmann, MIS Director
> MERCURY MINNESOTA INC.
> 507-332-1149
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must
> have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
> (1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder
> and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
> (2) To search through old msg's goto:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
> (3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must
have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
> (1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
> (2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
> (3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
2
Hi group:
We would like to add a couple of wireless units for our forklift operators to use to locate inventory and make move transactions in Vantage. Could I get some feedback on what all is involved in setting up wireless access points - and how costly to do? Do you have to have someone in to do a site survey in order to determine where to put them, or how can I tell how good the coverage will be? Does anyone have recommendations on either the type of access points and/or the actual wireless units that work well for this type of application? (I apologize if this has been discussed before.)

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Julie Lehmann, MIS Director
MERCURY MINNESOTA INC.
507-332-1149


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
3
We are also looking at the same thing (today we are doing a site survey). I would also like to hear anything and everything that someone out there may know about Vantage and Wireless.


Juliet Martin
Systems Manager
Rosenboom Machine & Tool, Inc.
712-324-4854


-----Original Message-----
From: Julie Lehmann [mailto:jlehmann@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 9:04 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Wireless Connection to Vantage


Hi group:
We would like to add a couple of wireless units for our forklift operators to use to locate inventory and make move transactions in Vantage. Could I get some feedback on what all is involved in setting up wireless access points - and how costly to do? Do you have to have someone in to do a site survey in order to determine where to put them, or how can I tell how good the coverage will be? Does anyone have recommendations on either the type of access points and/or the actual wireless units that work well for this type of application? (I apologize if this has been discussed before.)

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Julie Lehmann, MIS Director
MERCURY MINNESOTA INC.
507-332-1149


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
Yahoo! Groups Links
4
Played around with a D-Link wireless station here and never got it to work. This is a case where spending a little more might be better than going cheap.

One other thing...mostly standard now but look for access points that allow only specific MAC addresses to hit your network and/or an encryption verification scheme. Friend of mine has wireless in his house and opened his door one Sunday morning to get the paper only to find a kid sitting on his steps with a laptop using his cable internet connection.
-Todd C.

-----Original Message-----
From: Juliet Martin [mailto:jmartin@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 9:23 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Wireless Connection to Vantage


We are also looking at the same thing (today we are doing a site survey). I would also like to hear anything and everything that someone out there may know about Vantage and Wireless.


Juliet Martin
Systems Manager
Rosenboom Machine & Tool, Inc.
712-324-4854


-----Original Message-----
From: Julie Lehmann [mailto:jlehmann@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 9:04 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Wireless Connection to Vantage


Hi group:
We would like to add a couple of wireless units for our forklift operators to use to locate inventory and make move transactions in Vantage. Could I get some feedback on what all is involved in setting up wireless access points - and how costly to do? Do you have to have someone in to do a site survey in order to determine where to put them, or how can I tell how good the coverage will be? Does anyone have recommendations on either the type of access points and/or the actual wireless units that work well for this type of application? (I apologize if this has been discussed before.)

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Julie Lehmann, MIS Director
MERCURY MINNESOTA INC.
507-332-1149


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
Yahoo! Groups Links







Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
5
Howdy,

Wireless will work OK. A terminal server or citrix server with the client
running on the wireless workstation would give you the best performance.

But if only a couple of wireless workstations are going to setup - it should
be fine running the regular client. Don't expect wire speed performance.

Use 802.11g - that's the 54mbits/s AP. I recommend NetGear and SMC for
both AP's and adapters. Buffalo is also very good for AP's but seem to be
harder to find all of a sudden. I also like the USB 2.0 adapters with a USB
extension cable so the transceiver can be optimally placed for best
performance.

Remember the 54mbits/sec is a "marketing number." Real numbers are more
along 10mbits/sec.
802.11, 802.11b, and 802.11g are half-duplex (transmit then receive)

802.11a works in the 5Ghz range. Simple rule to remember - the higher the
frequency the shorter the range and the less penetration through obstacles.

Watch out for microwave ovens - they dump a ton or RF into the 2.4Ghz band.
Watch out for any cordless phones that use the 2.4Ghz band if they are DSSS.
FHSS units are OK.
Some security camera systems use the 2.4Ghz band.

For best performance, make sure all nodes can "see" each other. If they
can't then the two nodes will think they have exclusive access to the AP and
the AP will hear both at the same time. The AP can't handle this and will
ask for retransmissions.

A site survey should be done with a spectrum analyzer using both omni and
unidirectional antennas. Not just the "site survey" tool with XP or the
vendors software. There could be other wireless networks that are running
with their SSID broadcast disabled. These would be invisible to these
applications. The spectrum analyzer will see these hidden networks.

Implement the security features on your AP - use 128bit encyption and
disable the broadcast ID. Change the default SSID to one of your own
choosing and change the default administrator password on the AP's. Most
AP's will also work just fine when a separte IP subnet is created for just
the AP's and all the Wireless clients nodes will get their IP's from your
networks DHCP server. So you would just bind another ip address to your
management workstation for working with the AP's. This last step isn't
usually implemented, but it's a pretty good lock down if you are concerned.

802.11b/g can be setup for 3 non-overlapping channels 1, 6, 11 if you need
to cover a larger area then one AP can handle. In a pinch you can use the 4
channeles of 1, 4 , 8, 11 with minimal interference.

Sorry about all the info - it's one of the things I do for a living.
Please contact me anytime if you have any other questions or concerns.

Charles Paluska
www.homeplanetnetworks.com
Palus Technologies LLC



----- Original Message -----
From: "Julie Lehmann" <jlehmann@...>
To: <vantage@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 10:03 AM
Subject: [Vantage] Wireless Connection to Vantage


> Hi group:
> We would like to add a couple of wireless units for our forklift operators
to use to locate inventory and make move transactions in Vantage. Could I
get some feedback on what all is involved in setting up wireless access
points - and how costly to do? Do you have to have someone in to do a site
survey in order to determine where to put them, or how can I tell how good
the coverage will be? Does anyone have recommendations on either the type
of access points and/or the actual wireless units that work well for this
type of application? (I apologize if this has been discussed before.)
>
> Thanks in advance for any guidance!
>
> Julie Lehmann, MIS Director
> MERCURY MINNESOTA INC.
> 507-332-1149
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must
have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
> (1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
> (2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
> (3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
6
I recently implemented wireless networks in three of our facilities. I
purchased a Cisco Aironet 1231 Access Point and configured it with WEP
enabled and had users connecting to it within an hour of taking it out
of the box. Very easy to configure. Cisco recommended a site survey but
I decided not to get one. I placed the unit in a logical place and once
it was configured I tested the range of it and was satisfied with 90+%
coverage of the facility(80,000 sq ft.) Once I was satisfied with the
usability of the equipment I purchased a few more to install in our
other plants. They cost me $600 each. Charles' advice is very good. Do
not broadcast your SSID, use the 128bit encryption and always change
default passwords. I have used Vantage both with a local client and
through terminal services and both work just as well as a wired desktop.

Todd Hofert
IT Director
Spartan Graphics, Inc.


-----Original Message-----
From: Julie Lehmann [mailto:jlehmann@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 10:04 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Wireless Connection to Vantage

Hi group:
We would like to add a couple of wireless units for our forklift
operators to use to locate inventory and make move transactions in
Vantage. Could I get some feedback on what all is involved in setting
up wireless access points - and how costly to do? Do you have to have
someone in to do a site survey in order to determine where to put them,
or how can I tell how good the coverage will be? Does anyone have
recommendations on either the type of access points and/or the actual
wireless units that work well for this type of application? (I
apologize if this has been discussed before.)

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Julie Lehmann, MIS Director
MERCURY MINNESOTA INC.
507-332-1149


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must
have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder
and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
Yahoo! Groups Links