WebJunction

Survey your Site

Once you have weighed the benefits and drawbacks of offering wireless internet access to patrons, the next important step is to complete a survey of your library site - the building itself and the existing wired network.  Once you have a good understanding of these two things, you can then decide how many and what kinds of wireless access points (and other hardware) you will need to purchase.

Know your Network

Now it's time to draw another map.  This time, draw a diagram and document the characteristics of your library's existing network.  Here are some things to note:

• Your internet connection
  How are you connecting to the internet?  A DSL line supplied by the phone company?  A cable modem provided by the cable company or your ISP?  A frame-relay connection?
   (Note: You need to have an "always-on" broadband internet connection - none of this will work on a dial-up connection.  If you are still using dial-up, you probably will want to focus on upgrading your connection first - if that's possible.)
  
• Available network outlets
  In most cases you will need a wired network outlet for each wireless access point.
  
• Existing workstations, servers, printers and routers
  Document their naming conventions and the network address of the segment they are on (example - 192.168.1.x).  If you are using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) in your building, note which device is providing the DHCP service.
  
• The Internet Protocol (IP) addressing scheme of the existing network
  
• Any firewalls or other security mechanisms for the existing network that you might need to complement or replace when installing the wireless local area network (WLAN )segment
  Will the wireless LAN be on a separate network from the existing public access computers or will you integrate the WLAN with the public access computer network segment? Are both of those separate from staff computers?  Are you using network address translation (NAT) in your building?  In order to keep your public access network (both wireless and wired) separate from your private staff network, you can go one of two ways.  You can either connect all of your computers through one broadband internet connection and make sure you have a strong (hardware-based) firewall separating the two networks OR you can connect the staff computers through one internet connection and the public access computers through an entirely separate internet connection.  (Yes, that second option involves paying for two internet connections but it is the simpler of the two options.)
  
• The type of traffic on your existing network
  What kinds of applications are your staff and patrons using on the network?  Are they mostly just browsing the web and sending web-based e-mail?  Is there a lot of file download activity going on?  Once you know the kinds of traffic on your network, you can decide whether or not to limit the traffic on your wireless LAN to certain protocols (HTTP traffic only, for example).  This can help alleviate the problems associated with shared bandwidth. 

Basically, this exercise will help you see how the WLAN will best fit with your existing network. It will also help you figure out what sort of security configuration you will need to protect your existing network. 

Once you have completed your site survey, you will be better able to determine what kind of access point you need and where you can place it so that users can get the maximum benefits from it.  Now, you're ready to think about purchasing wireless networking hardware.