How to build a Wireless Network for Chain Store using tp-link products

Nowadays, retail chains are seen everywhere. They are not large enough, but could provide a wide range of goods or convenient service. In order to provide more attraction and satisfaction to customers, chain store need to consider building an easy-to-use, stable, and affordable wireless network which provides excellent customer experience. tp-link SMB routers and indoor access points are designed with simplicity, high stability and high performance which is a best choice for chain store use.

What are the basic needs of chain store wireless network?

Normally, a chain store wireless network should meet the following needs:

1. Wireless network should cover all over the store without any blind zone.

2. It is the HQ that arranges each store with the same business policy and marketing plan. And wireless network should be designed with the same wireless name, security and the portal authentication rules in different chains.

3. Simple layout, good looking design, PoE supported, and easy to install.

4. Centralized control. We needs all APs to be managed & configured by the HQ uniformly. And only one administrator in HQ could monitor all the APs and give a feedback.

What kind of solution can meet the needs of chain store wireless network?

Here we provide a full solution including the network topology, product features and parameters.

Topology

Tips for deploying this network topology:

When starting to deploy the wireless APs, the location and the amount mainly depend on the signal strength and the interference nearby. The solution is always different due to the variety environment, so it is strongly suggested to deploy the APs and adjust the transmit power and fix signal channel after field measurement. Normally the three points below should be mainly considered:

1. Transmit Power and Coverage

The coverage of an AP is limited, but we can finely adjust the transmit power to optimize it. Because of the limitation of the lobe pattern of the celling mount AP, one AP can cover 10-14 meters. While a real coverage for deployment should be decided after the field measurement.

2. Signal Channel Distributing

Another factor must be considered in wireless network deployment is channel collision. Among the 13 channels in 2.4GHz frequency range, only 3 of them won’t overlap with another, and they are well-known channel 1, 6, 11. To avoid channel collision, we should choose channel 1, 6, 11 and place them alternately.

3. Clients number

The AP should have the ability to handle all the clients in its coverage.

One of the schematic diagram shows as below:

What are the highlights of this solution?

The solution we provided has the following features:

• Easy to be deployed
• The EAP adopts ceiling mount design with elegant appearance. It supports PoE standard so that could be deployed easily.
• Auto roaming
• EAP Controller could manage many EAPs with the same SSID, and clients would switch to the other EAPs automatically when they come near.
• High availability
• Support Load Balance that could restrict the maximum number of the clients connected to one signal EAP to avoid overload; Support Band Steering that could lead the clients to connect to 5G network. Support Airtime fairness that could improve the whole network throughput.
• High development
• Support radius, portal, voucher authentication and many other methods. And it could work with the external portal server and external certificate server.
• Easy to manage
• No need to buy the expensive hardware AC. All the EAPs could be centralized managed and monitored on the web GUI of the controller.

Which product should I choose to build the chain store wireless network?

Here is a list which includes the TP-LINK devices for reference:

Note: When deploying a wireless network, variety of products can be chosen according to the different environment and your own needs. Please don’t use the same mentioned products rigidly.