Access points should go where the users and devices are, mounted with a clear path to them and away from metal and other obstructions. In most offices that means on the ceiling, inside the rooms and open areas people use, rather than lined up in hallways. The right location for each one comes from a design based on measurements, not from wherever a cable was easiest to run.
Place access points near the people, not the hallways
A common shortcut is to mount access points down corridors, where ceilings are easy to reach and cable runs are short. The signal then has to pass through walls, doors and furniture to reach the people in offices and meeting rooms, losing strength along the way. Meanwhile, the corridor itself, where few people work, gets the strongest signal.
Placing access points inside the spaces where people gather gives them a clearer path to devices and lets each one serve a defined area. Walls between access points also help, by limiting how far each one is heard and reducing overlap with its neighbours.
Ceiling or wall mounting
Ceiling mounting
Most enterprise access points are designed to be mounted on the ceiling, pointing down, with internal antennas that radiate outward and downward. Mounting them as intended gives the coverage pattern the manufacturer designed for.
- Below the ceiling, not above it. Hiding an access point above ceiling tiles puts it among ductwork, cable tray, pipes and light fixtures, all of which block or reflect the signal. If an access point must be above the ceiling, use an enclosure or mount designed for it and account for the loss in the design.
- Mind the height. Very high ceilings, such as in warehouses, gyms and atriums, put the access point far from users. Directional antennas, lower mounting or wall mounting may be needed.
- Avoid obstructions nearby. Keep access points clear of light fixtures, beams, ducts and sprinkler lines, and check required clearances from other services.
Wall mounting
Wall mounting suits hotel rooms, residence units, classrooms with hard ceilings and spaces where ceiling access is difficult. Some access points are built for walls, with antennas designed to cover the room in front of them. A ceiling model screwed sideways onto a wall may cover the wrong areas, so match the model to the mounting.
Building materials and contents
What surrounds an access point changes how far its signal reaches. Plan around:
- Concrete and masonry walls, elevator cores and stairwells, which block a lot of signal.
- Metal: studs, ductwork, racking, lockers, filing cabinets and wire lath plaster in older buildings.
- Glass with metallic coatings, which can reflect much of the signal.
- Floors and ceilings, which may be poor barriers in wood-frame buildings and strong ones in concrete buildings, affecting how access points on different floors interact.
These effects are hard to judge from drawings, which is why on-site measurements matter. See Predictive vs on-site WiFi surveys.
Plan in three dimensions
Access points on the floors above and below are neighbours too. In wood-frame and lightly built buildings, they can be heard clearly through the floor. Staggering access points between floors, rather than stacking them directly above each other, and including all floors in the channel plan, helps limit overlap. WiFi channel planning covers this in more detail.
Practical installation checks
- The location matches the design, or any move has been checked against it
- Cabling reaches each location within the length limits for the cable used
- Power over Ethernet is enough for the access point's full feature set
- The mount is secure and suited to the ceiling or wall type
- The access point is accessible for maintenance and replacement
- Physical security is adequate in public areas, with locking mounts where needed
- Each location is labelled and recorded on as-built drawings
Small moves matter. Shifting an access point a few metres to avoid a beam or a light fixture can change coverage noticeably. Any field change to an access point location should be checked against the design and confirmed in the validation survey.
How ehZee can help
We place access points based on survey measurements of your building, checking ceiling types, mounting options, cabling and IDF/MDF space as part of the survey. Our WiFi design and build service covers the placement design, the installation and a validation survey to confirm the result. For more on power and cabling, read Power over Ethernet (PoE).
Common questions
Can we hide access points above the ceiling for appearance?
It is possible, but it reduces performance because of obstructions in the ceiling space. Low-profile models, colour-matched covers or purpose-made enclosures are usually a better compromise.
How many access points do we need?
It depends on coverage, building materials, the number of users and devices, and the applications they run. Capacity, not coverage, often decides the number in busy spaces.
Is one access point per room necessary?
Not always. In offices, one access point may cover several rooms. In hotels, residences and classrooms, in-room or near-room placement is common because of wall construction and density.