Network design fundamentals and criteria for large public venues

This topic presumes the reader possesses an advanced knowledge level of Wi-Fi deployments and RF design. This guide aims to bring the most relevant design considerations and factors relevant to high-density and large public venues, either indoors or outdoors.

Some of the common, high-density design criteria for a wireless network design can be broken down into the metrics mentioned here. Designing a high-density wireless network must consider critical environmental and technical factors beyond just the seating capacity of the venue and an estimation of how many devices will need Wi-Fi connectivity.

The first couple of metrics are self explanatory and help the network planner achieve a rough estimate of AP count, but that does not provide the complete design or answer for all of the considerations that must be weighed for an LPV deployment.

There are several assumptions this guide and the online calculator make which might not align perfectly to the project you are pursuing. Based on the previously mentioned considerations, the following assumptions are listed:

Seating capacity

• HPE Aruba Networking recommends any venue with less than 10,000 users use an overhead mounting scheme.

• Venues large enough for more than 10,000 users may have a mixture of overhead and underseat access points. The LPV rough order of magnitude calculator will allow an engineer to choose between the two methodologies.

Take rate

• Due to the ubiquitous nature of Wi-Fi and smart devices, today’s take rate (total number of unique users) may range from 20% and 100% depending on the venue type and network usage expected.

• Remember that network utilization will grow over time and best to scope a venue based on the customer’s expected growth of function, utilization and ultimately usage 2-3 years into the future. Far better to err on the side of extra capacity than less.

Seats or areas covered per AP

• Based on experience, HPE Aruba Networking assumes that with an overhead mounting deployment in a large public venue, each AP radio will service up to 200 clients.

• If underseat AP placement is used, HPE Aruba Networking assumes 60 clients per radio for under seat AP placements.

• The online LPV ROM calculator uses these values as the default. The tool allows these variables to be changed based on the actual venue’s requirements.

Associated devices per radio

Determining the optimal number of devices per radio is crucial for maintaining network performance in high-density environments. While access points have maximum association limits, effective design requires operating well below these thresholds.

• Underseat placement - design for the actual seat count covered by each AP.
• Overhead placement - design for ~150 devices per radio based on expected take rate.

Understanding these design parameters allows you to calculate realistic association expectations and properly size the network infrastructure for sustained performance under actual operating conditions.

Underseat placement

For underseat placement, design for 100% take rate of the seats covered by each AP radio. The number of expected clients per radio should match the seat count per AP. For example, if the design covers 60 seats per AP, plan for 60 clients per AP radio.

Overhead placement

Overhead mounted access points typically cover larger areas than underseat deployments. Each overhead AP generally serves 150-200 seats, but client associations are calculated based on expected take rate rather than the total seat count the AP covers. The actual number of connected devices will depend on venue type and user behavior patterns, where ~150 active associations per radio is a starting point in the design.

Radio type

• Due to current bifurcation of 6 GHz regulatory adoption at the time of writing between 500 MHz or 1200 MHz decisions, 6 GHz radio usage in LPV will only be applied to countries with 1200 MHz of unlicensed frequency for 6 GHz use.

• All other regions will default to 5 GHz radio usage for LPV.

Gateways

Several factors will dictate whether gateways will be used or not. The key deciding factors for gateways/controllers are:

• Any solution designed with an AOS-8 architecture.

• Any solution involving Dynamic Segmentation.

• In the case of an AOS-10 based network architecture, any solution with more than 500 Access Points or more than 5000 clients, whichever comes first.

To simplify design decisions and maximize the performance, HPE Aruba Networking recommends the 9240 Gateway model be used. This provides HPE Aruba Networking’s most powerful hardware gateway and can provide throughput and connectivity options that any large venue may require.

Gateways can be clustered together to provide additional capacity and redundancy. Cluster sizes can vary from a 6-node cluster with AOS-10 or clusters with up to 12 nodes when utilizing AOS-8.

This scaling is very important and can be further simplified by stating that at least one pair of HPE Aruba Networking 9240 gateways be used per 32,000 devices.

As a best practice, network capacity should be engineered to 80% of maximum limits to provide adequate headroom for traffic spikes, device growth, and optimal performance under real-world conditions.

Refer to the Validated Solution Guide (VSG) capacity planning for sizing and planning of gateways at scale.

Access points and antennas

Based on HPE Aruba Networking’s experience in real-world, large public venues hosting thousands of concurrent users, this guide and the online LPV ROM calculator tool default to a number of Access Points from the AP-5xx/AP-6xx/AP-7xx series, based on venue location and area being served.

As previously stated, based on 6 GHz adoption, all US Deployments will default to 6 GHz capable access points. Because of the nature of 6 GHz this eliminates having to worry about backwards compatibility or legacy devices, further simplifying design considerations.

HPE Aruba Networking recommends using directional antennas where possible, to focus coverage on high-density areas, to improve signal quality and reduce interference.

United States deployments

• If indoors, with underseat placement, AP-6xx series Access Points will be used in conjunction with external antennas, specifically AP-ANT-312 antennas.

• If indoors, mounted overhead, the AP-679 model will be used with integrated antennas allowing for both narrow and wide antenna patterns.

• If outdoors, with underseat placement, the AP-654 with AP-ANT-312 external antennas will be used.

• If outdoors, mounted overhead, then AP-679 with integrated directional antennas will be used.

• Suites and concession stands typically require an AP per location, the AP-635 will be the default selection for these types of areas. These are presumed to provide either overhead or side coverage.

• Gates in to and out of the venue are often high-density locations in and of themselves. In these cases, an overhead mounted AP-677 will be suggested by default.

For all other Rest of World Deployments, 5 GHz radios will be used by default due to current adoption and ratification rates for 6 GHz usage. As adoption and ratification increases, the calculator can be modified to reflect these new opportunities to deploy in 6 GHz.

Rest of world deployments

• Indoor, underseat, external antennas, AP-5xx series with AP-ANT-312.

• Indoor, overhead, external antennas, AP-574 with AP-ANT-5314.

• Outdoor, underseat, external antennas, AP-518 with AP-ANT-312.

• Outdoor, overhead, external antennas, AP-574 with AP-ANT-5314.

• Suites and concession stands require an AP per location, an AP-5xx series access point will be the default selection for these types of areas. These are presumed to provide either overhead or side coverage.

• Gates in to and out of the venue are often high-density locations in and of themselves. In these cases, an overhead mounted AP-577 will be suggested by default.

Use of AP-6xx series access points and 6 GHz frequencies in rest of the world deployments must follow the target country’s respective 6 GHz outdoor regulations.

Type of venue

Another key consideration will be the type of venue. Based on the venue, areas, expected traffic flow, capacity, and expected usage.

Common venues

Common examples of high-density, large public venues include the following:

• Large meeting rooms

• Lecture halls and auditoriums

• Convention center meeting halls

• Hotel ballrooms

• Stadiums, arenas, and ballparks

• Concert halls and amphitheaters

• Casinos

• Airport concourses

• Passenger aircraft and cruise ships

• Places of worship

• Financial trading floors

Each example includes some common design criteria as well as unique challenges and considerations.

• Venue layout - document the physical and architectural characteristics of the venue, which can impact signal propagation.

• User density and distribution - understand how users are distributed across the venue, as density impacts interference and capacity needs. What is the anticipated user flow through the venue? Certain areas may need more or less coverage and capacity depending on how users are expected to flow through the area.

• Assess network infrastructure - routing/switching architecture, system services, for example the venue’s internet connection, MAC/ARP limitations, DHCP/DNS performance, etc.

• Real-world factors - adjust for real-world factors such as signal quality, interference, and user movement. Typically, real-world throughput is about 50-70% of theoretical maximums. Also consider protocol overheads from operations like MAC layer acknowledgments and beacon transmissions.

• Environmental overheads - account for additional environmental factors like RF noise and non-Wi-Fi interference that may impact performance.

• High-density areas should never be designed for peak single-client burst rate. VHD areas are designed to provide a low, common throughput like 1 Mbps or 4 Mbps to all clients. While occasionally possible to hit the peak if the network is not busy, the baseline assumption for any high-density network is that the channel is very congested and average device throughput is much lower than the peak rate.

• Use 20 MHz channel widths as the baseline configuration. 40 MHz channels should only be considered in certain advanced situations which are out of scope for this page. This narrower channel width brings down the peak data rate dramatically (from 780 Mbps to just 86.7 Mbps for a typical 1SS 802.11ac smartphone).

• Most client devices are only 1 SS or 2 SS capable, and many will operate at 1 SS when the battery is low to conserve battery life. This is expected across modern devices due to physical size and battery power constraints.

Venues with a movable roof

While stadiums with roofs that open and close can introduce some complexities, a robust and flexible Wi-Fi solution that maximizes the 6 GHz band advantages can still be achieved by factoring in a few key considerations:

• Position APs and antennas strategically to account for the changing environment when the roof opens or closes. Consider that the roof position will affect signal propagation and reflection.

• Understand that opening the roof changes the RF environment significantly. Have strategies in place to deal with signal diffraction and attenuations when the roof is closed.

• Evaluate how different roofing materials, both in open and closed positions, impact RF signals. Metal or concrete structures could reflect or absorb 6 GHz signals.

• Implement infrastructure that can withstand any vibrations or movements caused by the mechanism opening and closing the roof.

• Apply dynamic frequency selection to adapt to potential changes in interference patterns caused by the transient nature of the stadium’s roof.

• Design network plans that minimize interference from other sources, including cellular networks or microwave links.

• Plan for seamless handover and transition between APs as users move into areas with differing roof statuses (open vs. closed), ensuring consistent high-quality connectivity.

• Utilize wider channel availability in 6 GHz to support more users and high-bandwidth applications.