What do you think of this project for a Hotel's network?

[starriol]

I'm doing a project for a hotel that is going to be constructed in the near future.

Since it's going to be a VERY expensive hotel (around 500-800 US dollars a night and I live in Argentina, so it's virtually unnafordable for everyone here... it's target are rich tourists) I need to make the project using the best of the best avaible... with a certain limit, of course 😀

So it's my chance to work with top level equipment.
That's why I chose Cisco for the whole installation.
The hotel is a small hotel (only 5 floors with suites on them, 2 for each floor). The building is 25 meters wide.
We have an under floor (below the ground, pardon my english) where the internal network of the hotel employees will be, along with another things such as the kitchen, etc.
Then, the ground floor with the restorant, main hall, reception, etc.
Then, 5 floors with suites on them and a the sixth floor which houses a sauna.

Anyway, my main concern is the hardware configuration since I won't be doing the cable installation.
I'll use the following hardware:

Switch WS-CE500-24TT 24 10/100 and 2 10/100/1000BT uplinks, GUI software
Router CISCO1811/K9 Dual Ethernet Security Router with V.92 Modem Backup
Access Point AIR-AP1010-A-K9 1000 Series 802.11a/b/g AP w/ Int Antennas, FCC config
Controller AIR-WLC2006-K9 2000 Series WLAN Controller for up to 6 Lightweight APs

The main idea behind using this hardware is having a very reliable network, so in every suite there are going to be 2 network (how do you say this in english???) connectors on the wall, plus an Access Point for every suite floor and the ground level (not below ground and in the sauna, I trust this AP model is strong enough to get a good signal in all the building... if six Cisco AP can't, I don't know what 😀 ).

Also, I have 2 switches for redundancy. Every switch goes to the same place, distanced by meters.

That is, you have an UTP connector on a suite from switch A and another UTP connector a couple of meters away from switch B.

That router can handle two WAN connections, which has the advantadge of being either Cable modem or ADSL, so I can chose between both. I will do load balancing between two broadband connections so if one ISP fails to provide service, I can rely on the other, but in the meantime the hotel has both bandwidth combined.

I have a question regarding this. I'm no expert on load balancing, I was told by my Cisco instructor that ADSL has MUCH lousier load balancing capabilities and cable modem aren't that great either.
What do you guys think about this?

Also, I would love to hear your ideas about the whole project, since I'm still in time to do improvements, thanks a lot for your time 🙂 !

 

[spidey07]

More access points. Provide a quality network.

For redundancy you'll need two controllers and they need to be licensed to handle all access points.

I'd look to do two 3750 switches in stack with wireless controllers built in.

 

[nightowl]

I would go with Cisco 1242 or 1131 APs rather than the 1000 series APs. The 1131 APs have the same antenna performance as the 1242s with rubber ducky antennas. Also, I would highly recommend having a site survey done to make sure you have acceptable wireless coverage in the hotel. I have a feeling that you are going to need more than 6 APs so that will push you to something other than the 2006 controller (you should be looking at the 2106 anyway). So, the 3750 with the integrated controller that Spidey mentioned would be an alternative.

You will definitely want POE to power the APs. While that might be all that you are powering now, there are many more applications that can use POE besides APs and phones. Speaking of phones, are you going to go with IPT at all? If so, you will want to upgrade your router(s) to at least a 2800 so you can have voice support.

Now, if you are really concerned about availability you will want 2 routers and since you are talking about using cable and/or dsl I would look at running OER for HA and load balancing. Also, you may want to look at full T1s so that you have a SLA if one of the links were to go down.

Also, since you are looking at controller based wireless you will have a good way to offer guest access while retaining control over who has access to the wireless network.

 

[alfa147x]

Im want one in my CASA

 

[spyordie007]

I agree, you're way under on hardware here.

I like Spidey's suggestion of stacked 3750s. If the APs are terminating at the stack you'll want PoE, otherwise make sure your distribution switches are PoE. I also agree that you should recommend multiple controllers as wireless is a very customer-facing service. You could either do it on the 3750s or do a pair of 4402s.

If you're looking for data-only coverage a good rule of thumb is at least one AP for every 5,000 sq. ft (~465 sq. meters) of floor space. Make sure to model first so you get good placement (Cisco WCS, AirMagnet and Ekahau are all good options), a site survey may also be in line after the APs are mounted.

AP1010 are low-end APs, I pretty much only use them as rogue-detectors. Cisco's "flagship" APs are the 1131s and 1242s (which are the same basic hardware with a different form-factor and antenna configuration), I'd stick with 1131s wherever you can and use 1242s if you need exterior coverage or simply something more ruggedized.