Integra Systems, Inc., has had the opportunity to be associated with the WLAN space before Wi-Fi actually came to the market. That being said, we have learned a lot about mobile devices and the proper enterprise design by actual field design and deployment over eighteen years. Integra Systems was retained several years ago by a technology firm to design and deploy a WLAN VoIP solution in a very challenging environment. We just had to make it work. It worked in a flawless fashion.

So what are the challenges to the design of a WLAN voice over IP solution?
This is being described as the mobile device and WLAN radio. It has to be enterprise grade. What does this mean enterprise grade? Simply put the roaming algorithms have to be robust enough to maintain a secure connection back the WLAN controller while mobile. If not the call will drop.

The Design
Any WLAN design today should use predictive modeling based upon the actual construction materials of the building. For WLAN voice over IP, you need a signal strength of -65dBm and a co-channel interference of less than 2%.

The Gotchas
Smart phones were never designed to work in a highly mobile WLAN VoiP environment because of the inherent WLAN radio contained in the device. The primary use model is 3G/4G with the occasional connection to a hotspot. Integrators have attempted to try to resolve the client radio deficiencies by adding more WLAN access points. This only raises the noise floor and increases co-channel interface.

The Solution
Use a purpose built enterprise mobile solution that has WLAN client radio that supports fast roaming with the ability to handle all current security supplicants.
Design taking into account all the building materials with a criteria of -65dBm with a CCI of less than 2%