Placement And Layout Considerations - Ruckus Wireless ZoneDirector 1100 User Manual

statistical multiplexing (just like the phone system - the fact that not all users are using the
network concurrently), if you use an oversubscription ratio of 4:1, such a network could actually
support 40 users at 1Mbps.
In a Smart Mesh network, the Root AP (RAP) has all its wireless bandwidth available for downlink,
because the uplink is wired. For Mesh APs (MAPs), the available wireless bandwidth has to be
shared between the uplink and the downlink. This degrades performance of a Mesh AP as
compared to a Root. This problem is mitigated somewhat by dual radio APs when the uplink
and downlink traffic can be sent/received on two separate radios.

Placement and Layout Considerations

• Utilize two or more RAPs: To prevent having a single point-of-failure, it is always best to
have 2 or more RAPs so that there are alternate paths back to the wired network.
• More roots are better: The more Root APs in the design, the higher the performance.
Therefore, as far as possible, try to wire as many APs as is convenient.
• Design for max 3 hops: Avoid an excessive number of hops in your mesh topology. In
general, the goal should be to have the lowest number of hops, provided other consider-
ations (like Signal >= 25%) are met. Limiting the number of hops to 3 or less is best practice.
• Place a Root towards the middle of a coverage area to minimize the # hops required to
reach some MAPs.
• If there are multiple Roots, ensure that the Roots are distributed evenly throughout the
coverage area (not clumped up close together in one area). Shown in
scenario, along with a not-so-ideal scenario. Of course, the whole purpose of mesh is to
provide coverage in areas that are hard to wire, therefore the ideal may not be possible.
But as far as possible, evenly spaced Root APs are preferable.
Smart Mesh Networking Best Practices

Placement and Layout Considerations

Figure 188 is an ideal
295