Juan Bottia

TIE 532
March 22, 2014

Fieldwork Experience
Introduction

At the beginning of the 2013 2014 school year Orchard Place Elementary did not
have wireless access in the following areas: gym, cafeteria, teachers lounge, music
and art classrooms. After the building was remodeled it was stated by the
contractor that those areas were not going to have wireless access until January
of 2014. After discussing with Seth Bowers, Director of Information and
Instructional Technology, about a functional network that I can learn about and
possible help install, we decided that it will be beneficial for me to be part of the
addition of 8 more access points to my building.

Analysis of Device

Adding 8 more access points to the building will allow the staff to have Internet
access in the gym, cafeteria, teachers lounge, music and art room. It will also
strengthen the wireless signal in the upper grades hallways, the kindergarten
rooms, and the main office.

A wireless connection in the teachers lounge will allow teachers to move both copy
machines back to lounge. This will facilitate grade level meetings, which were held
there, and it will also expedite the copying and printing process in the school.

Since there is not an auditorium at Orchard Place Elementary, assemblies are
always held at the gym. Wireless access will allow the staff to stream videos during
assemblies, and it will guarantee a place to have extended day programs that
require wireless access.

Teachers usually use the cafeteria space when the lab is full. Wireless access in
the cafeteria will allow teachers to have extended day programs in that area. It
will also facilitate Kindergarten enrollment, and it will improve the system used to
record lunch count data during recess.

Network Manager

Dan Chianelli, the Network Manger, will be overseeing the installation of 8 Cisco
AP3600 access points in my building. Dan Chianelli is the technology specialist in
the district. He has the responsibility of maintaining and troubleshooting computer
systems and operations.

Steps and Procedures

The Cisco AP3600 wireless access points will be mounted below a suspended ceiling.
Orchard Places ceiling type is a T Rail Ceiling.

Trail ceiling
Source: www.cisco.com

Steps:
1. Establish the location to mount 8 access points in the school.
2. Remove ceiling tiles to be able to wire the access points with the router or
switch.
3. Put the ceiling grid clip over the T-rail and screw its components to the rail.

AIR-AP-T-RAIL
Ceiling Grid Clip
4. Screw the mounting bracket to the ceiling grid clip.

AIR-AP-BRACKET
AP Bracket: Universal
5. Connect the Ethernet and power cables to the access point.

Source: www.cisco.com
6. Slide the access point onto the mounting bracket until it is lock into place.


Source: www.cisco.com




Drawings












Description Cost Quantity Total
Ceiling Grid Clip $5 8 $40
AP Bracket $5 8 $40
Cisco 3600i $900 8 $7,200

Description of Device

The 3600 series supports high-performing Spectrum Intelligence which sustains
three spatial stream rates over a deployable distance with high reliability when
serving clients. The 3600 series provides high reliability and overall wireless
performance.
The 3600 series offers dual-band radios (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) with integrated and
external antenna options. The access points support full inter-operability with
leading 802.11n clients, and support a mixed deployment with other access points
and controllers.
The 3600 series access point is a controller-based (Unified) product and supports:
Simultaneous dual-band (2.4 GHz/5 GHz) radios
Integrated antennas on the 3602I access point model (AIR-CAP3602I-x-K9)
External antennas for rugged 3602E access point model (AIR-CAP3602E-x-K9)

The features of the 3600 series are:
Processing sub-systems (including CPUs and memory) and radio hardware, which
supports:
Network management
Clean AirAutomatic detection, classification, location and mitigation of RF
interference
Client Link+Beam Forming to 802.11n clients as well as legacy 802.11a/g
OFDM clients
Video Stream
Location
WIDS/WIPS
Security
Radio Resource Management (RRM)
Rogue detection
Management Frame Protection (MFP)
Throughput, forwarding, and filtering performance scaled to meet 3 spatial
stream 450 Mbps data-rates
32 MB flash size
802.11af/at
CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol)
2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 802.11n radios with the following features:
4TX x 4RX
3-spatial streams, 450 Mbps PHY rate
Spectrum intelligence
DPD (Digital Pre-Distortion) technology
Cisco Vector Beam formingImplicit Co-phase beam forming for .11ag
clients and 1x1 11n clients
Radio hardware is capable of explicit compressed beam forming (ECBF) per
802.11n standard

Source: www.cisco.com

Reflection

Before taking TIE 532 I had no idea how a wireless network worked in a building or
even at my own home. After completing the field experience and developing a
technology plan for my school, I have learned how a wireless networks function.

Primarily, I have learned that a router is designed to connect a network. In
contrast, a switch creates a network. The name router goes after the idea that
the device routes the information so it can be efficiently delivered.

At Orchard Place Elementary there are two Cisco 3506 chassis, one acting as a
core router and the other as a switch. The core chassis is in the MDF room and the
other switch is in the IDF room. Both rooms are connected via a fiber optic cable.
However, the MDF room is directly connected to the AT&T line, which is where the
Internet is obtained.


The school has sixteen access points that are wired to the router or to the switch.
The access points allow wireless devices like iPads and laptops to connect to the
Internet using Wi-Fi. At the beginning of the year my school did not have enough
access points around the building. Therefore, the Internet was not accessible in
several areas. In some places the signal strength was too weak in order to support
some of the schools web based programs.

In my apartment there is only one router because I only have two devices that
connect wirelessly to the Internet. However, since Orchard Place Elementary has
over 300 devices that connect wirelessly to the Internet daily, it is vital to expand
the network by using a switch and also connecting access points to both, the router
and switch.