| Wireless Network slow in Hospital  This may be a simple fix and any suggestions would be appreciated.
We have a hospital network, using Cisco 1200 series AP. We have plenty of AP coverage, signal strength stays excellent. The issue is we are beginning to run our main database system wireless and after more than 3 people connect to the system it becomes very slow and at times data is being lost.
We have ruled out hardware on the laptop sides, added more AP's and nothing has solved the issue. the computers have no internet access so no additional usage from the user side is the cause. Any suggestions on increasing the bandwidth in this situation? |
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me1212
join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO
1 edit | How much bandwidth do you have, and how much is trying to be used? |
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| reply to kfowler
No idea what RDBMS you are using but there might be a parameter in it's networking interface to allow multiple connections, or allow more than is it currently configured for.
just a thought...
Jerry
WOOF! |
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 AnavSarcastic Llama? Naw, Just AcerbicPremium
join:2001-07-16
Dartmouth, NS
kudos:2 | reply to kfowler
Maybe hospital equipment is interfering with the APs, and those damn leaded x-ray room walls break up the signal! |
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1 edit | reply to kfowler
step one, of course, is to use a laptop or PC that connects via ethernet cable rather than via WiFi. Then, if a wireless laptop and this wired PC are simultaneously slow, you know it's caused by the data servers.
Next, on a slow laptop, do a ping -t xxx
where xxx is the router in your system, say, 10.11.123.250
ensure those are consistently lower than 5mSec
Beyond those, you need an on-site guru, or someone on the phone with you to talk you through troubleshooting.
By The Way: Is this WiFi encrypted and fully HIPAA compliant? If not, Joint Accreditation review is at grave risk. |
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2 edits | reply to kfowler
This is going to be long winded.
kfowler, if possible you really need to convince your higher ups of doing a site survey for the hospital. I cant stress this enough especially for a problematic environment like yours. Right now its an environmental issue you're running into (and I'll get to this in a bit), so troubleshooting for you without a site survey done would be similar to praying at winning the lottery.
Currently I you should be having two problems due to your environment (note the way I keep stressing your environment). One is multipathing and the other would be due to possible interference.
First would be the issue of multipathing. As you're in an environment with LOTS of reflective surfaces, ie. steel, mirrors, etc., this can cause destructive interference at the receivers end, aka the user.
I'm going to assume you're using 1231 APs or 1242 APs and that you're using 802.11b/g. Second then would be the issue of interference, in the form of other entities using the 2.4GHz band. Possible culprits are devices that use Bluetooth, other wireless access points that you do not control, configured for 802.11b/g, cordless phones, etc. I've even seen HVAC or critical infrastructure systems that use wireless to transmit signals on the 2.4GHz band.
Two recommendations off the top of my head as this is already getting pretty lengthy. ONE, get rid of some of the additional AP's. Additional AP's are only added if there is a coverage issue. In your case without a site survey done, where the location of the AP's were probably picked at random, the additional AP's only aggravate the problem even further because too much signal is being broadcasted which can lead to even more multipathing.
Two, best guidelines dictate that you should run 802.11a for an environment like yours. I'm not saying you cant use 802.11b/g as its definitely possible to get 802.11b/g working well but you'll probably need to get the 1252's which just came out. If you don't have an option of running 802.11a because your clients dont support it, then your only option, without purchasing the 1252's would be to limit the cell size for each AP, in which case the additional AP's will play a role then.
If you're planning in any capacity for voice over wireless, you can forget it. If your data clients are having issues now, voice will be a disaster until this issue is resolved.
In any case, your first objective is to get that site survey. It'll save you A LOT of grief and time. |
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 DaMaGeINCThe Lan ManPremium
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC
kudos:2 | reply to kfowler
said by kfowler : The issue is we are beginning to run our main database system wireless Did nobody else care to read this one little part??? Or am I misreading this?
He is running his database server on a wireless connection............. DUHHHHH its slow! |
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| reply to kfowler
Having a database might imply large records but it would depend on how many records. If hes just running simple queries for a few records then it should be fine especially with 802.11a or 802.11g not to mention 802.11n. I doubt anyone will try to pull the entire database. Even on the off chance this happens, how large would the database be? That would depend.
Right now the OP is listing as 3 users connecting to the system and then data being lost. Sounds like hes having wireless issues in regards to the data being lost. If he pings the database server, most likely there would be packet loss. |
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| reply to kfowler
Well a site survey should obviously be done because just adding more access points is never a good thing. That's just wreckless and actually has the tenancy to cause more problems than not.
What is your backbone like?
I assume the hardwired computers work fine?
--
"No job is so important, and no service is so urgent that we cannot take the time to perform our work safely."
-- AT&T, Your World, Destroyed.
--Safety One Tower Rescue Certified
--LLigetfa:"Wimax is like teenage sex. Everyone talks about doing it." |
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