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High Density Classrooms

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  • 1.  High Density Classrooms

    Posted Dec 01, 2021 05:50 PM
    Are there any considerations when providing high density coverage in classroom settings?  Specifically, if I am trying to serve 65 devices in a classroom with several identical classrooms nearby, the center of each room being only 50 ft or so apart, is it appropriate to double up APs in these rooms?  My worry is that I am going to have an AP essentially every 25ft.  

    If it makes a difference, I would be doing this with AP 205s that I have in surplus.

    Thanks in advance for any experience or wisdom that you can share.

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    -Bill
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  • 2.  RE: High Density Classrooms

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Dec 01, 2021 06:05 PM
    The short answer is "yes you want a second AP there".  The second AP is to provide capacity.  The only issue is that you might want a more powerful AP than the AP-205, because it is limited more by CPU than anything in the 300 or 500 series.

    Bedtime reading:  https://community.arubanetworks.com/browse/articles/blogviewer?blogkey=7bc8710b-bc01-4229-a170-41f8f5a5e6f8

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    Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: High Density Classrooms

    MVP EXPERT
    Posted Dec 01, 2021 06:39 PM
    Following the basic design rule "plan for 25-30 devices per radio" (for 802.11ac) i would suggest two access points per room.

    AP-205 = 802.11ac wave1
    AP-305 = 802.11ac wave2
    AP-505 = 802.11ax

    AP-205, AP-305, AP-505 access points are low budget access points for low density
    AP-315, AP-515 access points are for standard office
    AP-325 AP-535 access points are for high density (like classrooms)
    AP-555 is for very high density

    Better access points have better cpu/mem resources and more spatial streams.

    For a class room with 60 devices you can try to use a single AP-325 or AP-535. Depends on the application needs of the clients. The AP-5xx series have 802.11ax which use OFDMA which separate a channel in smaller resource units, when all clients does 802.11ax you can handle some more devices on a single AP.

    With software like Ekahau Pro you can design a capacity planning. If you not familiar with the design process, i recommend you to hire a wireless design proffesional to assist you.

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    Marcel Koedijk | MVP Guru 2021 | ACEP | ACMP | ACCP | ACDP | Ekahau ECSE | Not an HPE Employee | Opionions are my own
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    Original Message