Industrial Wifi for Large East Coast Marina

Wifi installation project 

for large family owned east coast marina

Needs:

1. Blanket boatyard with quality WiFi signal for public (boaters) and private network use.
2. Allow for two SSID's signals one SSID for the private network and one SSID for the public network
3. Lock down each SSID Network with WPA2 Security
4. Separate the public network with their own subnet and DHCP Server

After Hurricane Sandy, the existing Wi-Fi at Lockwood Boatworks in Morgan, NJ was in disrepair. Weak signal strength and shoddy connections were causing outages.

Judy Speicher of Lockwood Boatworks got together with Dataserv their IT Support Company for over 15 years. Dataserv suggested they go for a quality Wifi network utilizing Cisco hardware with fiber connections to each access point. Judy Speicher got the OK to upgrade the Wifi for the yard.

Dataserv reached out to TelX Wall, NJ to install fiber connectivity to each outlying areas for best connectivity for the Access Points and WiFi signal strength.

Pulling the fiber was a bit of an issue. The underground conduit between each location where the APs were being installed were loaded with water and debris from Sandy. Luckily TelX was performing the work at Lockwood Boatworks where the secret code phrase when any trouble arises is "Just tell Bill". John from TelX called Dataserv to review the issue. Dataserv came down early the next day, met John from TelX and ran the issue by Bill Lockwood and within 24hrs the water was pumped out of the conduit so John from TelX can complete the fiber installation. Nice to work with an accommodating company. It helps smooth out the bumps any installation can and will run into.

Heres a photo of the fiber ends we needed to match. We sent a picture to Aaron Shelton at D and H for his assistance in Dataserv receiving the correct ends, which we did. Thanks Aaron !

Dataserv who has been a 15 yr IT support vendor for Lockwood, turned to their distributor D and H for the project hardware. Dataserv has a long standing relationship with D and H and utilized their sales and support staff. We called Kim Brink, our favorite sales person which forwarded our support request to Aaron Shelton, in the Cisco Sales Team at D and H.

After some initial talk, I forwarded Aaron a photo of the yard and what their needs would be.

Aaron Shelton designed a plan for Lockwood Boatworks based on the information we provided Aaron, site survey and Lockwood's needs.

After receiving parts list from Aaron and reviewing each part with the corresponding SmartNet Service packs, I told Kim and Aaron we were ready to pull the trigger on the hardware.

And yes, we use our Surface Pro 3 for photo mark-ups sent to Kim and Aaron. VERY HELPFUL!

We used three Cisco PoE Switches SG300-10MPP with fiber module connectivity for outlying AP's terminating at the big repair shop to a SG300-10MPP with two fiber modules. This all just lit up when connected. Thanks Aaron !

The 1532E accesspoint(s) connect to Cisco's Wireless Lan Controller WLC2504. The 2504 helps roll out and manage the Cisco AP's in a much quicker and efficient manor. 

For antennas we used twin omni-directionals at the small shed for yard coverage and a directional at the pier for signal reach to the end.

With Lockwoods assistance, Bill Lockwood had ordered enclosures for each switch out in the field. Theses enclosures hold each switch, power adapters and surge protectors. 

Frank at Lockwood did the mounting and internal work - Nice Work Frank !

One AP will be mounted at the small shed on a  telephone pole (Pole installed by Lockwood) next to 

building. Of course the pole is higher than actual drawing.

The Shed is utilizing the 1532E AP with Dual Antenna 2.5/5Ghz. All grounding was performed by Lockwood as per Cisco's specifications. 

With Lockwood requirements, we had notes ready to go before we had Cisco SmartNet support dial in and start their configuration setup 

We performed the initial configuration with Cisco's Wireless Team at Dataserv's Office in Spring Lake, NJ. We set up a laptop with putty had our Cisco cable ready and assisted when needed. All initial configurations took about 2-3 hrs.  WLC and AP's were upgraded. The AP's were connected and programmed based on Lockwood needs.

Once the WLC and AP's were programmed all hardware was brought to Lockwood for installing and mounting. (SEE SHED and BOX PHOTOS ABOVE)

We called Cisco, set up a webex time and Daybi Morales Nunez dialed in to check connectivity to the system. All was good.

WOOAH !

CISCO Smart Net Wireless Team Tech Daybi Morales Nunez was professional and efficient in working with the hardware. We have been installing tech for 20 yrs and Daybid was just awesome ! 

We knew for Lockwoods requirements, we wanted the public network to have a walled network and its own DHCP server so we reached out to WesternNRG to perform Sonicwall support and guidance as we don't get too deep into the Sonicwall experience. Alex Ma at Western worked with Deybid superbly. Like two friends who knew each other. Alex also went out of his way to make sure everything was locked down.

We use WesternNRG  instead of Soncwall Service Packs as the support is quicker, and the techs are quicker to pick up our needs. 

Once completed, Dataserv tested each AP, checked fthat access to each network was locked down and IP addresses were quickly acquired. The Sonicwall NSA 250 was performing as expected. We were very happy.

Should we need an additional AP, the benefit of the the Wireless Lan Controller should pay for itself in ease of AP configuration and management.

Thanks to all for assistance on this project.

ESTIMATED HOURS: 32 Including Design, Plan, Installation and Testing

D and H, Harrisburg, PA
TelX, Wall NJ

Kim Brink, Sales Specialist at D and H

Aaron Shelton, Cisco Sales Specialist at D and H

Daybi Morales Nunez, Enterprise Wireless Support Team at Cisco

Alex Ma Sonicwall Support at WesternNRG

Judy Speicher, Bill Lockwood and the employees at Lockwood Boatworks.