If you intend to design an Enterprise Wireless Network that performs well, detailed planning is critical.  Today I'm going to examine 5 key things to consider before moving forward with an Enterprise WiFi installation.

Site Survey      Do I need to get a site survey?   The answer depends on the expected use and performance of the WLAN. A site survey involves two different things - spectrum analysis and coverage mapping.  The spectrum analysis checks to see if there is any interference with other frequencies.  The coverage mapping simulates the access point placement to ensure proper coverage requirements.   Can a wireless system be installed without a site survey?   Yes, however proper coverage and optimal functionality can never be guaranteed.  Imagine building a model car in a dark room, it is going to take longer and you really don’t know what it looks like until the light is turned on.  A proper site survey allows you to see what you’re working with before, during and after the installation.  Also, it is important that a site survey be conducted during a normal working environment - with machines, forklifts and or people moving around - to ensure the operation will be properly scrutinized. 

Usage   What type of data will be going through the wireless network:  small data collection transactions, phone calls (VOIP/SIP), and or large file transfers?  Will users require the use of the wireless network while moving from one area to another?  Each of these types of questions corresponds to important design requirements.   For instance, if users will be moving around then 100% coverage will be required to and from each of these areas and the system must be capable of roaming users between access points.

Coverage    What are my coverage needs?  Do I need to cover the entire building/facility?  Can this change in the future? This will answer how large the wireless system needs to be initially and does it need to be scalable enough to facilitate the rest of the building or another building entirely in the future. Planning in the beginning will save future costs in time, performance and money.  

Area Layout and Obstacles   The thing to remember here is that metal is the enemy; it can completely block signals as well as create multipath, which can confuse access points.  Special considerations need to be taken when looking to install wireless infrastructure in an environment that contains a lot of metal – including the building’s construction.  Water and other liquids can present problems as well. Since the human body is composed of mostly water, people can also obstruct wireless signals and limit the utilization of a WLAN.

If you are looking for additional assistance, contact RACO's Advanced Solutions Group (ASG).  RACO's team of network engineers are certified in both Motorola and Cisco wireless networking technologies and have integrated these components into a multitude of corporate networks.

If you are in a business that accepts cash for transactions, you are at risk of losing money due to counterfeit currency. Recent U.S. Treasury estimates believe there is over $70 million in fake money circulating in the United States.  This number is highly likely to grow as printer systems become more available and inexpensive. Also, there is no recourse if your business ends up with a counterfeit bill.  It is illegal to pass on the forged currency and the Treasury Department does not provide ‘financial enumeration.’ In other words, the fake buck stops here.  With you.  Depending on your type of operation, the risk could be quite large. Retail, hospitality/entertainment and banking businesses conduct a large amount of their transactions in cash which increases the probability of receiving phony bills. Counterfeiters also prey on companies who handle large amounts of money, hoping to take advantage of those who would overlook bogus bills. But, there are a few things businesses can do to help reduce the risk of accepting counterfeit currency: 

Learn about the currency identifiers. Authentic US currency incorporate features such as fluorescent and magnetic dyes, security threads, watermarks and special cloth-blended paper. It is important to educate your employees and yourself about these features in the $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 bills. The $20 bill is the most counterfeited of all of the bills. Although human currency identification is not perfect, it is your first line of defense of accepting a counterfeit bill. For more information, visit The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s website.

 Investigate counterfeit currency detection systems and methods. There are products readily available in the market that aid in counterfeit detection. There a simple, easy to use pens resembling a highlighter that react to the cloth-blended paper used in today’s currency. The pen will create a black mark on counterfeit currency that was printed with a normal copier on inkjet paper. But a bill may pass this test if finer paper similar to US currency is used. For maximum protection, there are counterfeit currency detectors that identify the special inks as well as the infrared security marks that are considered counterfeit-proof. Products like the Cassida 3300 Counterfeit Bill Detector offer one of the most complete defenses against accepting counterfeit money available. The Cassida 3300 is easy to use and processes a bill in less than one second. For more information, visit http://www.racoindustries.com/cassida-3300.htm.

Determine the risk to your business. If your business operates with a high volume of cash transactions, consider investing in automated equipment like the Cassida 3300 . Although the cost is higher than a counterfeit detector pen, the investment can be minimal (less than $500.00) compared to the loss of revenue due to fake currency. If your business operates mainly on credit card of check transactions, an investment in the highlighter pens may make more sense. 

If you suspect a counterfeiter, please take the recommended precautions from the U.S. Treasury Department.

 There are ways to protect yourself from counterfeit bills and the damage it can do to your business.  Compared to being stuck holding the bag (of fake money), the small investment in counterfeit detection equipment can protect you from being ripped off by bad cash.

Is your R110 XI RFID Printer not printing correctly?  Are you seeing an increase in blank labels and label waste?  A simple calibration may improve your printer's performance.  RACO's Technical Service Manager walks through the process in this short video:

To encode the tags we are using a Zebra R110Xi RFID printer. 

The configuration is for vendor compliance in a 3PL or third party distribution center.  The tags will be read as the SKUs are moved through the dock doors and read again as they enter their vendor destination.

Setting up the reader

The XR400 has 4 possible antenna pairs.  Two antennas, a Tx and Rx.  Each pair can be one choke point or portal.  A shipping dock door for instance would be a good choke point.  Using epcSolutions software simplifies the setup process since it is designed for vendor RFID compliance.   There were three main troubleshooting issues we ran into while configuring the software to start the reader polling and setting the proper RFID tag type.

The first problem was actually finding the reader on the network in order to enable us to log into the Administrative Console via its IP address a web browser.  The “default” IP address was not correct and even after resetting the XR400 it did not take on the default IP.  By plugging the XR400 into a switched network and running Wireshark on another computer, we were able to see broadcast packets coming from a 192.168.0.73 address. Putting that address into a web browser got us into the Administrative Console.  The default user name is admin with a password of change. 

The second problem was that the epcSolutions software was unable to “start the reader”. Through some trial and error we discovered that the XR400’s polling was the issue and had to be disabled in the Administrative Console in order to let the software start the polling itself.  With polling enabled the software is unable to start the reader and gives an error that says, “Symbol reader returning error status 0x80”.  The polling option is under the “Scan Control” menu item.

Next the tags we needed to read were Generation-2, Class-1 (G-2, C-1). 

This is setup within the XR400 Administrative Console, under the “Read Point Class” menu option.  Then assigned to an antenna pair/portal.

After clearing those hurdles the tags are now being read and all the lights are green.  One of the major problems that must be dealt with when configuring RFID is that tags are automatically read and will continue to be read every 1 or 2 seconds for as long as the tag remains within the polling area.  Therefore, whatever data collection software is used as an RFID manager it must be ready to manage multiple reads.  

The little screencast Video shows how often or quickly the tags are read and reread.

http://www.screencast.com/t/nQ3TyCV82